The only other thing I'll say here is that I'm still surprised not to see more of the high-end options try to separate themselves from the pack with clever bonus features like a built-in battery for charging your devices while you camp outdoors (or better yet, a solar panel).
If that's what you're hoping for, your best bet might be to turn to Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where expensive, gadgety mega-coolers like the Coolest Cooler and the Infinite Cooler live in infamy. I say infamy because both of those cash-grabs have a history of production delays and decidedly unhappy customers. Go on, read through the comments on the Infinite Cooler's Indiegogo campaign, which just blew through a March ship date with nothing to show for it. It ain't pretty.
It's all more than enough for me to recommend the healthiest possible dose of skepticism if you ever find yourself tempted to back a campaign like that with your cold hard cash. I mean, come on -- the literal last thing you want from your cooler is to get burned by it. Stick with an old fashioned cooler like the ones I recommend above, and that isn't something you'll need to worry about.
— Crist, Ry (July 10, 2019). "Best coolers of 2019: We tested Yeti, Igloo, RTIC, Coleman, Cabela's and more". CNET. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
The upcoming smartwatch [Pebble Time] has overtaken the Coolest Cooler to become Kickstarter's highest funded project of all time.
— [1]
This is a list of Kickstarter records by highest funding and most backers.
Highest funding
edit| Rank | Total USD (in millions) | Project | Category | Backers | Date funded | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20.3M | Pebble Time | Product design | 78,471 | 2015-03-27 | Pebble's second of three smartwatch campaigns | [2][3] |
| 2 | $13.2M | Coolest Cooler | Product design | 62,642 | 2014-08-29 | Cooler with built-in blender, Bluetooth speaker, and wide tires; shipped two-thirds of rewards before going out of business | [2][4] |
| 3 | $12.9M | Frosthaven | Tabletop games | 83,193 | 2020-05-01 | Sequel to the dungeon crawler Gloomhaven | [5][6][7] |
| 4 | $12.7M | Pebble 2 | Product design | 66,673 | 2016-06-30 | Third and final Pebble smartwatch campaign; Pebble issued refunds for unshipped products after being acquired by Fitbit | [8][9][10] |
| 5 | $12.3M | Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5 | Tabletop games | 66,673 | 2016-06-30 | Nightmare horror-themed tabletop game | [2] |
| 6 | $12.1M | EcoFlow Delta | Hardware | 3,199 | 2021-09-13 | ||
| 7 | $12.1M | Peak Design Travel Tripod | Product design | 27,168 | 2019-07-18 | Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).
|
Most backers
editReferences
edit- ^ Moscaritolo, Angela (March 9, 2015). "Pebble Time Now Most Funded Kickstarter Ever". PC Magazine. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- ^ a b c Gage, Deborah (May 1, 2018). "The 10 Biggest Crowdfunding Campaigns: Where Are They Now?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
- ^ Chang, Althea (March 30, 2015). "Pebble Watch crowdfunding hits record on Kickstarter". CNBC. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ Carman, Ashley (December 9, 2019). "Crowdfunding disaster Coolest Cooler is shutting down and blaming tariffs for its downfall". The Verge. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ Hall, Charlie (December 22, 2020). "Games broke funding records on Kickstarter in 2020, despite the pandemic". Polygon. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ Hall, Charlie (March 31, 2020). "Gloomhaven sequel Frosthaven hits Kickstarter, quickly earns $3M in funding". Polygon. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
- ^ Jarvis, Matt (May 2, 2020). "Gloomhaven sequel Frosthaven is now the biggest board game Kickstarter of all time". Dicebreaker. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ Rubini, Agustin (2018). Fintech in a Flash: Financial Technology Made Easy. de Gruyter. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-5474-0105-5.
- ^ Lee, Nicole (December 8, 2016). "Fitbit's Pebble acquisition risks alienating loyal users". Engadget. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ^ Kamps, Haje Jan (June 30, 2016). "Latest Pebble campaign snags third-most-funded slot on Kickstarter". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
Sources
edit- Koebler, Jason (April 13, 2016). "Kickstarter's Biggest Shitshow Somehow Got Even Messier". Motherboard. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- Dewey, Caitlin (August 28, 2014). "Ryan Grepper, inventor of the 'Coolest' cooler, failed many times before raising $13 million on Kickstarter". Washington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- Statt, Nick (November 18, 2015). "The Coolest Cooler is turning into one of Kickstarter's biggest disasters". The Verge. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- Singleton, Micah (April 13, 2016). "$13 million Kickstarter project for a cooler continues to be a disaster". The Verge. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- Beck, Kellen (April 16, 2016). "The saga of the Coolest cooler: How a Kickstarter campaign goes south". Mashable. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
- Rogoway, Mike (June 9, 2018). "Kickstarter fiasco Coolest Cooler has new plan to pay for 20,000 undelivered coolers". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- Rogoway, Mike (March 19, 2016). "When Kickstarter blows up: Crowdfunding site wasn't built for big-time projects". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- Hern, Alex (November 19, 2015). "Trouble on Kickstarter as two massive projects hit the rocks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
- Jeffries, Adrianne (August 27, 2014). "The biggest Kickstarter ever failed the first time around". The Verge. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Thompson, Ashlee Clark (October 6, 2018). "The Coolest Cooler is back with a soft-sided model". CNET. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Thompson, Ashlee Clark (August 15, 2015). "Coolest Cooler review: The ultimate tailgating accessory". CNET. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Greenwald, Will (April 21, 2016). "Review: Coolest Cooler". PC Magazine. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Swanner, Nate (March 1, 2016). "Coolest Cooler is flat broke and looking for an investor, but backers are pissed off". The Next Web. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Moodie, Alison (July 4, 2015). "Coolest Cooler: the small business that made millions overnight". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
- Feeney, Nolan (August 31, 2014). "The Most Successful Kickstarter Campaign Ever". Time. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Swanner, Nate (November 23, 2015). "Coolest Cooler is just another Kickstarter nightmare come true". The Next Web. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Luckerson, Victor (March 2, 2016). "Why Everybody Is Furious About This Drink Cooler". Time. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Dent, Steve (April 14, 2016). "Coolest Cooler asks backers for more money". Engadget. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Paul (April 14, 2016). "Record-breaking Kickstarter darling Coolest Cooler asks backers for more money". PCWorld. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Thurston, Anthony (October 4, 2016). "Oregon DOJ Opens Investigation Into Coolest Coolers". Digital Trends. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Davison, Candace Braun; Flager, Madison (June 20, 2017). "[UPDATED] The DOJ Investigation Is Over, But This $450 Cooler's Still Mired In Drama". Delish. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Thompson, Ashlee Clark (April 13, 2016). "Pissed-off backers of Kickstarter darling just want their coolers -- or a refund". CNET. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Volastro, Anthony; Rosenbaum, Eric (August 27, 2014). "A new king of Kickstarter about to be crowned". CNBC. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- "The 25 Best Inventions of 2014". Time. November 20, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2019.