A report by Flybridge Capital Partners has revealed that hardware-based crowdfunding campaigns have raised 35 per cent of the total capital invested by Indiegogo and Kickstarter over the last five years, in just the last quarter.

In total, 128 projects raised $70m (£46m) in the period, making the first quarter of this year record-breaking. 65 per cent of the projects raising more than $100,000 were posted on Kickstarter, with 35 per cent on Indiegogo.

The research only looked into projects that raised more than $100,000 by 31st March. However, the VC said the majority of the projects were worth less than $150,000.

Crowdfunding sector

Wearables raised the most money (around $25m, £16m), with only being 17 products that fitted into the category, while accessories was the second most valuable category, with 27 projects. Bikes came in fourth with just five products listed and Drones were also an important contributor, with five products raising around $6m (£4m).

Pebble Time was the most successful fundraiser, with $20m (£13.2m) raised, accounting for almost a third of all projects. Sondros and Zano also had successful funding rounds, collecting $4.7m (£3.1m) and $3.5m (£2.3m) respectively as of March 31.

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Flybridge Capital Partners’ Matt Witheiler said on a post published to Techcrunch: “Big things are happening with hardware crowdfunding on Indiegogo and Kickstarter – the numbers from Q1 demonstrate that. What is more difficult to capture but increasingly becoming part of the picture are projects that use neither platform and instead self host.

“There’s little question that crowdfunding will continue to be an important tool for hardware startups going forward. But the bigger question is will consumers continue to buy. If Q1 is any indication, the answer is a resounding yes.”

Witheiler described the issue surrounding products not shipping to investors when scheduled. He said Flybridge Capital Partners’ research shows the problem is clearly still present, saying that nine previously delayed products had shipped by March, but 27 others that were due to have been sent off were still not shipping.

“The coming months will be telling ones since the 128 projects that raised money from the crowd this past quarter will deliver, on average, in June/July of this year. If history repeats itself, we can expect many of these to be late,” Witheiler said.