Friday, August 26, 2016

Arrow Electronics, IndieGogo Team On Crowdfunding Production

Centennial, Colorado-based electronics distributor and supplier Arrow Electronics has linked up with crowdfunding site IndieGogo, to help bring crowdfunded products to market, the two said this week. According to the two, they have created a "crowdfund-to-production" service, and also will offer up to $1M in "flash funding" for IndieGogo projects aimed at projects which are ready for the manufacturing stage. Arrow said the deal also includes an "Arrow Certified" badge on IndieGogo, where its engineers will examine a projects' design and manufacturability, and can choose to grant a certification if requirements are met.

The new program aims to address one of the major issues with crowdfunded projects--the inability to tell if a project is just vaporware, or has a team or real prospects for actual production. Arrow said it will offer up projects which meet the Arrow Certified requirements a share of a total of $1M in "flash funding" and benefits -- including technical review, design-for manufacturing certification, and up to $1,000 in materials for prototype development. Arrow said that, if it identifies any projects that are "truly technologically exceptional" it will also offer up supply chain services of up to $500,000 and up to $10,000 in materials for prototype development, among other support to those projects.

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