AnnualReportonCrowdfundinginTaiwan

20112015Review&2016Outlook

BeforeyouaskaboutthecrowdfundingmarketinTaiwan,letsseesomefacts:
1. Taiwanhasthehighestdensityofcrowdfundingplatformsintheworld.
2. TaiwanistheNo.1countryinAsiawiththemostcrowdfundingprojectsandhighestamountraisedper
capita.
3. Anaverageof1in50internetusershasparticipatedinacrowdfundingcampaignthatsaboutthe
popularityofTaylorSwiftsfirsttwoalbumssales.

Neverheardaboutanyofthesebefore?
LetsrunyouthroughwhatsbeengoingonintheTaiwancrowdfundingindustryinrecentyears.

2011~2012:IntroductiontoCrowdfunding

CrowdfundinghasbecomethebestcreativityincubatorintheworldsincetheestablishmentofKickstarterin
2009,andTaiwandidnotmisstheparty.

Theearliesttracegoesbackto2011,whenweReport,thefirstnonprofitindustryresearchagencywasfunded.

In2012,rewardbasedcrowdfundingplatformsstartingtosprouteverywhere,aszeczec,thefirstcrowdfunding
sitededicatedtoculturalandartisticprojects,wasinitiated,andwasimmediatelyfollowedbymore
categorydiverseflyingV,andHereO,asitefocusedonTaiwaneseindiemusicmarket.Untilnow,thereare13
crowdfundingplatformscrammingamarketof23millionpeople.

InSeptember2011,documentaryDesign&ThinkingbecamethefirstTaiwaneseprojecttoreachfundinggoal
onKickstarter,andfromthereitdrawsthecurtainforTaiwanesecrowdfundingcampaigntocrosstheseaand
launchoninternationalplatforms.In2012,Ch+u,apilotswatchlaunchedbyafashionblogger,becamethefirst
projecttocrowdraiseoverUSD$30K,attractingmediaattentionandsettingamilestoneforcrowdfunding
projectsinTaiwan.

(Fromlefttoright:Design&Thinkingdocumentary,ch+upilotwatch)

2013:AttentiontoCrowdfundedEvents

Inthesummerof2013,aseriesofhighprofilecrowdfundedmarathonsattractedconsiderablemediaattention,
andinturnintroducedthepublictocrowdfundingmarket.ItallstartedwithAttackonFlour,amarathoninspired
ColorRun,raisingUSD$30Kwithin27hours.Therecordwasquicklybrokenbyanothermarathon,Zombie
Runwithinamonth,whoraisedUSD$250Kwithin5days.

Attheendoftheyear,thefirstaerialdocumentary,BeyondBeautyTaiwanfromAbove,crowdfundedforits
premiereintheNationalChiangKaishekMemorialHall.As3,000peoplegatheredinthesquareinabreezy
autumnevening,thepublichascometorealizethataslongasthereisacause,youdonothavetobeatycoon
orapowerfulcorporatetodosomegood.Evenaeverydayfellowcanraiseawareness,calltothepublicand
achievesomethingbigtogether.


(Fromlefttoright:ZombieRunmarathon,BeyondBeautyTaiwanfromAbovedocumentary)

2014:SocialMovementastheCatalyst

2014wasaturbulentyearforTaiwanesesociety,andcrowdfundingplayedanimportantroleinsociopolitical
propagandas,bringingdifferentpartiestogetherinvariouscivilmovements.

Newkidinpolitics:Dr.KoWenJe,currentmayorandthencandidateofthecapital,Taipei,firstappeared
beforethepubliceyeswithacrowdfundedspeecheventfor1,000audiences.Hethengatheredtremendous
popularityamongthosecravingforachangeofcurrentsocialsituation,andworkedhiswayfromthere,fromER
tothecityhall.

InMarch,thegovernmentsdisregardofthemajority(70%)opiniononabolishingnuclearpowerplants
consequentlyinspiredseriesofAntiNuclearcrowdfundingcampaigns.Artistsandjustabouteveryonearound

thecornerstartedseekingfundsandsupporttomakeshortfilms,stageprotestsandorganizedemonstrationsto
venttheirfrustrations.

Whatpromptedcrowdfundinguntothefrontpage,wasSunflowerMovement,inwhich3,600participantsraised
USD$219Kin3hours,topurchasefulladpageonNewYorkTimesandpromoteAntiChinaTradePac..The
photographybookofSunflowerMovementdocumentaryalsobecamethesecondmostbackedcampaignwith
9,084backersinTaiwanscrowndfuninghistory.

ThiswasamomentforTaiwanesedemocracy.Anditisalsoamilestoneforcrowdfunding.Throughthese
campaigns,crowdfundingdemonstratedanalternativeforeverydaypeopletoparticipateinsociopolitical
activities,toinvolveincivilmovements,togatherstrengthwithinthecrowdandtomakeachangeintheworld.

(Fromlefttoright:ThecrowdfundedspeechofDr.KoWenJeNYTfullpageadforSunflowerMovement,Photographybookof
SunflowerMovementdocumentary)

Inadditionofcrowdfundingcampaignsforsocialmovement,severalprojectsalsohadgreatperformancein
2014.Sentri,thesmarthomehub,wasthefirstTaiwaneseteamtoraisedoverUSD$300KonKickstarter.The
StairRoverskateboardmadetosurfthecitywasthemostfundedprojectonTaiwaneseplatformzeczecwith
overUSD$1,200K.AteamofstudentslaunchedFluxAllinOne3DPrinteronKickstarter.Theynotonlyraised
morethanUSD$1.6M,butalsosetthemostfundedcrowdfundingrecordbyTaiwaneseteam.

(Fromlefttoright:Sentrismarthomehub,StairRoverskateboard,Flux3Dprinter)

2015:Fromplatformsupporttoindependentcampaigns.FromTaiwantotheworld.

Withalltheseprojectspavingtheway,crowdfundinghasbecomeameansforstartupstomarkettheirideas,
raiseproductionfundsandtoearnmediaattention.Asthepublicgrownfamiliarwiththeconcept,anumberof
rewardbasedprojectsstartedtoreachouttointernationalmarket.Manyofthembuiltindependentwebsites
seekingsupport,andotherslaunchedoninternationalplatforms,suchasKickstarterandIndiegogo.

Crowdfundinghasbecomenotmerelyafinancialchannel,butaportalforentrepreneurstoexpandtheirideas
andpitchtointernationalmediaanddistributors.

In2015,agroupofyoungcollegegraduatesestablishedTaiwanBar,anewmediacompanythatcreateda
seriesofanimationvideosaboutTaiwanshistorythatbecameviralonline.Thiswasthefirstindependent
crowdfundingcampaigninTaiwanthatraisedoverUSD$156K.Ateamofpassionateprofessorsandstudents
whocreatedtheARRCorganizationtomakeandlaunchanentirelymadeinTaiwanrocket.Theyhave
experiencedmultiplefailuresandlackoffunding.ButtheyaredeterminedtolettheworldseeTaiwansdream
forspaceexplorationandcurrentlyraisingmorethanUSD$300Kthroughtheirwebsite.

InearlySeptember,6peoplespent5yearstocreateanewTraditionalChinesefontJinXuen.Theyraisedatotal
ofUSD$813K,whichbecamethemostfundedrecordoffontproject.AfterLunathehomedecorlampbecamea
hitinTaiwan,theylauncheditonIndiegogoplatformandraisedUSD$760K.Itsperformancewas15times
greaterthanitsresultinTaiwan.Attheendofyear,MoonCupthemenstrualcupreceivedsupportfrommore
than6,000womenwhosharethesamegoalofusingthiseconomicandenvironmentalfriendlyproduct.This
campaignsuccessfullyraisedawarenessanddiscussionaroundthismedicalequipmentinTaiwan.


(Fromlefttoright:TaiwanBarmediastudio,ARRCspacerocket,JinXuentypefont,Lunahomedecorlamp,MoonCupmenstrual
cup)

2011~2015,CrowdfundinginNumbers:Whathappenedinthepast4years.

Enoughwithstorytelling.Letthenumberstalk.


Numberofprojects:EXPLOSIVEgrowthby10times
SincetheappearanceofthefirstcrowdfundingcampaigninTaiwan,thenumberofdomesticcrowdfunding
projectshasgrownby10times!Itsrapidgrowthexemplifiedthatcrowdfundingisnotasinglefad,butthat
ithasbecomeaneffectivecommunicationchannelforstartupstoattractpublicattentionandtopromote
theirideas.

Morethan50%successrate
SuccessratesofcrowdfundingprojectsinTaiwanareexceptionallyhigh,thataveragely50~60%of
crowdfundingprojectswillreachitsgoal.Benchmarkingthefigurewithinternationalplatforms,Kickstarter

(40~45%)andIndiegogo(10%),itisobvioushowkindheartedTaiwanesepeoplearepassionatetohelp
projectcreatorsachievingtheirdreams.

SteadyGrowthofCrowdfundingMarket

Crowdfundingindustryhasseenasteadygrowthinthepast4years.Form2012to2013,themarketyield
grewby9times,andthenextyear,2013to2014,ithasa4timesjump.From2015,themarkethas
graduallystabilizedwithaverageyearlyyieldatUSD$15M.Giventhesamededication,wepresumea
steadyandconsiderablegrowthintheyearstocome.

Participation:AveragePledge$79

Atotalof200,944peoplehaveparticipatedincrowdfundinginTaiwan.Considering10Mdomesticactive
eshoppers,crowdfundingisgatheringitspublicity,yetthereisstillabigroomforfuturedevelopments.
TheaveragepledgewasUSD$79from20122015.


Whosthehotshot:TechnologyCategory

Categorywise,technologycaseshavebeeninthecenterofspotlight.Whiletheamountraisedisclosely
relatedtothetypeofcampaign,averagepledgeamountfortechnologyprojectscanreachUSD$150per
pledge,whilethereisa3timegapwithsocialcauseprojects,whichonlymanagedUSD$46perpledge.


GoingGlobal
Withtheexceptionofgamecategory,thenumberofprojectsineachcategoryisrelativelyeveninthe
domesticmarket.Butwhenlaunchingoninternationalplatforms,duetolanguagebarriers,cultural
differencesandgeographicalconstraints,technologyanddesignproductshavetakenthewholepie.We
canperhapslookforwardtothesetwocategoriesbecomingmorevibrantininternationalscene.

WhatsNext?4industrypredictionsforthecomingyear.

Howwillcrowdfunding,withits4yearfoundationanddevelopment,becomein2016?Weveinvestigatedits
growth,trackedahistoricaltrend,andraised4majorpredictionsforthecomingyear.

RewardBasedProjectsGoingGlobal
In2012,thetotalfundedamountoftechnologyanddesignprojectsonlycountedas3.77%ofthetotal
fundedamountofTaiwaneseteaminthesameyear,butgraduallyincreasedto36.57%,42.18%,and
35.10%in2013,2014,and2015,respectively.ForprojectswhohadoutstandingperformanceinTaiwan,
theyaremorelikelytotaketheirproducttoaninternationalmarket.Ontheotherhand,Taiwaneseteam
whohadgreatsuccessinternationallyaremorelikelytotakepreorderdomestically.Thistrendsuggests
thatmorerewardbasedprojectswillgoonglobalplatformswhilesocialcauseprojectswillcontinueto
growinTaiwan.


MultipleChannelsandTools
TheselfcrowdfundingcampaignssuchasStarCitizenvideogame,Glowforge3Dlaserprinter,orCoin
smartpaymentdevicehadhugesuccessinthepasttwoyears.InTaiwan,morethan30teamsusedtheir
ownplatformsorwebsitestoraisemorethanUSD$3Min2015suchasARRC,MoonCup,orTaiwanBar.

Thepopularityofindependentcrowdfundingcampaignsanddevelopmentofthirdpartypaymenttools
suggestthatthegrowthofcrowdfundingplatformsinTaiwanwillgraduallyslowdown.

ControversiesandResponses
Overthepastyear,backerconfidencehasbeenchallengedbyanumberofhighprofilecrowdfunding
casesfailingtodeliveritsproductintheend.Toprotectitssupporters,therehasbeensomeinsurance
mechanismstopreventscamsorfailedproductions.

Insurance:Backerscanpurchaseadditionalinsurance.Iftheproductcannotbedeliverontime,
backerswillreceivearefund.
ThirdPartyCertification:Thethirdpartyorganization(enterpriseorcrowdfundingplatform)provides
acertificationtoensurethefulfillmentofproject.
PartialFundsTransfer:Thecrowdfundingplatformwilltemporarilykeeppartialfunds,andtransferto
projectcreatorsdependingontheprogressoftheproject.

Forindustrypioneers,painandsetbacksareinevitable.Butwhatdoesntkillyoumakesyoustronger.To
keepasteadygrowthincrowdfundingindustry,itisnecessarytodevelopmoreinsuranceprotocolsand
morecomprehensiveservicestoprotectbothbackersandprojectinitiators.

FlourishingPeripheralServices
Aseriesofperipheralservicesalsogrowaccordingtotheneedofagreatercrowdfundingmarket.For
instance,socialmediagroupofsuperbackerslikeBackerClubpromoteselectedproductswithexclusive

discounts.SeveralcrowdfundingconsultancieslikeAgency2.0orTheCrowdfundMafiacoachdifferent
projectstolaunchtheircampaigns.

InTaiwan,thefirstcrowdfundingconsultingagencyBackerFounderhasalsoappearedontheglobal
scene.Providingcomprehensiveservicepackagesfrommarketresearch,websitemanagementto
consumerservices,BackerFounderhashelpedmorethan60campaignstoraiseatotalof10millioninits
firstyearofoperation.TheaveragefundsraisedperprojectassistedbyBackerFounderisUSD$200K,
whichis20timesmorethantheprojectsinTaiwan.

Inthisannualreport,weintendtobringanoverviewofcrowdfundingindustryinTaiwan,andintroducethestatus
ofdomesticmarkettothepublicandinternationalmedia.

Shouldyouhaveanyinquiriesorideas,pleasefeelfreetocontactusat:crowdwatch@backerfounder.com
Yourparticipationandyouropinionsisourmostvaluablesupport,andiswhatdrivesustoexcellence.