Pioneers of Crowdfunding.
Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell revolutionized the crowdfunding landscape by focusing their platform on flexible (and non-traditional) funding options.
Entrepreneurs can retain the funds they raise, even if they fall short of their target. This unparalleled flexibility empowered innovation and removed the barriers that often impede progress.
In the bustling world of Wall Street in 2002, Danae Ringelmann, an astute analyst, found herself co-producing a compelling reading of an Arthur Miller play. Despite its popularity among audiences, the financial prospects were dishearteningly meager. This experience sparked Ringelmann's quest for alternative avenues of revenue, leading her on a path to redefine fundraising as we know it today.
Inspired by her encounters with independent filmmakers and theater producers, Ringelmann embarked on a mission to democratize the fundraising landscape. In 2007, under the name Project Keiyaku, Ringelmann, Rubin, and Schell honed their revolutionary concept, laying the foundation for what would become Indiegogo. The platform made its official debut at the illustrious Sundance Film Festival in January 2008, setting its sights on empowering filmmakers and their projects. The platform quickly gained traction, attracting attention from MTV New Media, leading to a fruitful partnership aimed at fostering new content from Indiegogo's diverse range of projects.
Recognizing the immense potential of Indiegogo, renowned venture capital firms joined forces to fuel its growth. In September 2011, a groundbreaking $1.5 million Seed financing round was spearheaded by Metamorphic Ventures, ff Venture Capital, MHS Capital, and Steve Schoettler, co-founder of Zynga. The platform's innovative spirit caught the attention of President Barack Obama's Startup America, which forged a partnership with Indiegogo in February 2012, providing aspiring entrepreneurs in the United States with the opportunity to leverage the power of crowdfunding.
COMPANY PROFILE: INDIEGOGO
Crowdfunding for new and groundbreaking products.
Powered by curiosity, the Indiegogo community has helped bring more than 800,000 innovative ideas to life since 2008. Today, their group of backers is more than 9 million strong, representing 235 countries and territories.
FOUNDERS:
→ Danae Ringelmann
→ Slava Rubin
→ Eric Schell
LAST FUNDING STAGE:
Series B
VECTOR:
Human Machine Interaction
123
Team Members
55M
Funding to Date
Slava Rubin, Danae Ringelmann, and Eric Schell
FOUNDERS
Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, & Eric Schell
In 2006, Danae enrolled at the prestigious Haas School of Business, driven by her vision of a company that would revolutionize the fundraising paradigm. It was at Haas that fate intervened, bringing together like-minded visionaries Eric Schell and Slava Rubin, both of whom shared Ringelmann's passion for transforming the fundraising landscape.
Indiegogo now provides an invaluable platform for creators to showcase their products to a global audience. By eliminating geographical limitations, this crowdfunding powerhouse enables entrepreneurs to access potential customers worldwide and receive invaluable feedback. To further bolster their success, Indiegogo equips creators with an array of tools and resources, ensuring that they have the necessary support to craft compelling campaigns.
Today, Indiegogo is being led by CEO Becky Center, while Danae and Slava still play a role through the company's board. Eric has since leaned more into his technical expertise and is actively building, but the legacy that these three are leaving behind through Indiegogo is nothing small, to say the least.
Danae highlighting her entrepreneurial origins on The Story Exchange
“My path to Indiegogo has been a journey that started when I was a young girl, when I first became aware of how hard financing was and why that mattered.”
-Danae
Read More
→ How Danae Ringelmann Came Up With Indiegogo
→ How Indiegogo Revolutionized the Crowdfunding Industry
Delve deeper into the world of Machine-to-Machine Learning through our other inspiring articles or discover why we're also passionate about Human Machine Interaction and Biological Machines.
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