Chocolate-covered wasabi peas and electric bikes are just some of the first items for sale through CrowdHut, a New York–based e-commerce site that markets products and services from crowdfunded companies. Emerging from private beta last week, five-month-old CrowdHut aims to become a central portal for companies that raise cash through platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Fundable.
David Borish, CrowdHut’s chief technology officer and co-founder, says his company also plans to provide other services to entrepreneurs who successfully raise cash through crowdfunding but don’t know what to do next. “A lot of them don’t have experience,” he says.
Crowdfunding caught media attention in May after Pebble Technology famously sought $100,000 but raised more than $10 million through Kickstarter to develop its Pebble E-Paper Watch. Borish says crowdfunding sites typically part ways with the companies that use them after they raise money. That can leave entrepreneurs scrambling to move forward, he says.
He believes his site can help crowdfunded companies reach consumers by aggregating their products in one place. Nonprofits that turn to crowdfunding for social causes can also make use of CrowdHut’s advisory services, he says. Populating the website required compiling a database of completed crowdfunding campaigns and then reaching out to those companies. CrowdHut listed 130 different products on the day of its launch and Borish expects that to grow—with careful curation. Companies that have not achieved their crowdfunding goals need not apply. “We’re looking for the next big mass market retail product,” he says.
Though there are no upfront fees, CrowdHut takes a noticeable slice of revenue. “We charge 30 percent per sale on sales through our platform,” Borish says. The product maker is responsible for shipping costs.
So far CrowdHut is collaborating with Fundable, which refers its
