Assistance for product designers using crowdfunding for their ideas is here with the Kickstarter Hardware Toolkit
Crowdfunding site Kickstarter is teaming up with hardware manufacturing experts, Dragon Innovation, who bring years of experience and smart software to helping companies build at scale, and Avnet, a global technology distributor that helps customers design and make their ideas and bring them to market.
Together Kickstarter is looking to take ideas at the prototyping stage through to production, and possibly reduce some of the failed projects that have cast a negative light over the idea of crowdfunding physical products.
“Kickstarter is an excellent way to raise funds and build an audience for your hardware project — but will you be ready for what comes after that? Figuring out how to engineer a product for large-scale manufacturing can be daunting. Some creators have a great idea and a working prototype, but could use help taking the next steps,” said Kickstarter at its Hardware Studio Toolkit launch.
Two parts of this effort will launch in September: the Hardware Studio Toolkit, a collection of valuable tools and tutorials that we’re making available to our community for free; and Hardware Studio Connection, which will prepare Kickstarter creators working on more complex projects with advice, feedback, and services from Avnet and Dragon Innovation.
Resources will include free live webinars to help designers engage with experts through live sessions on prototyping, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain management, fulfillment, and more.
Free access will be granted to online tools, including Dragon Innovation’s Product Planner, to help provide detailed insights on project costs, component availability, and production timelines.
Additionally, Kickstarter will curate a selection of tutorials and other reference materials to learn from.
