The crowd funding platform, Kickstarter, has launched in Singapore and Hong Kong. The company helps creative professionals, entrepreneurs and SMEs to develop/launch their products, by obtaining funding from individual investors.
Previously, people in Singapore/Hong Kong who were looking for funding through Kickstarter, had to use an overseas representative, have a physical address address and bank account in one of the supported regions (such as USA and UK), and were subject to tax regulations in the host country.
With the new development, creators can now start projects in Singapore/Hong Kong directly and raise funds in local currency. They will also be subject to local tax regulations.
So far, people in Singapore have spent approximately SGD 41 million, backing projects on the platform. As per Kickstarter, they are one of the biggest segments of backers globally.
Kickstarter will compete with local crowdfunding platforms such as MoolahSense and FringeBacker. For an indication of local projects active at the moment, have a look here - Singapore, Hong Kong.
This is good news for entrepreneurs/SMEs and backers in the region, since it will make the process easier. Kickstarter expects activity to pick-up due to the local launches.