Lately, most of the media-hyped crowdfunding campaigns have been product-based projects, where there is a clear physical deliverable be it an album, film, or a sleek and sexy watch. Aside from games, which are often released in the form of a digital download, software products haven’t yet taken off on platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
Appsplit is on a mission to change this, with their new crowdfunding site for apps. The site currently allows users to create three different campaign types, each of which target a specific need and segment of the app business:
1. A “crowdfunding campaign” for an app project.
2. A “connect campaign” for people looking to partner up on a project.
3. A “sale campaign” if you want to sell your app’s source code.
Depending on where you are in the lifecycle of your app, appsplit has a campaign type that can fulfill your need. In addition, the company also offers help throughout the campaigning process to optimize your project.
I was lucky enough to talk with Dilawer Soomro, a Marketing Associate at appsplit to learn a little bit more about the company’s vision and progress. I’ve included the results below.
How did you come up with the idea for AppSplit?
Appsplit started when our founder, Hussein Yahfoufi, was looking to sell an app he had developed and was having difficulty finding a marketplace. As the site was being developed and the app market was maturing, we started seeing other opportunities in the space, which led us to crowdsourcing and crowdfunding on appsplit.
Which of the three services (selling/crowdfunding/finding talent) is getting the best traction?
So far, the connect campaign type has been the most active and successful. We’ve had several successful campaigns and a few apps already fully developed such as Vevue (http://vevue.com/).
How does software crowdfunding differ from hard goods like we’ve seen on Kickstarter.
Rewards become far more tricky and interesting. If you are building a new watch, you can say: get the first watch made with a special backer engraving. Limited quantities. With software you need to be far more creative and need to look into giving special access, beta versions, naming rights, etc…
What percentage do you guys take?
For the crowdfunding campaign we take 5% for all-or-none campaigns (only get the money if you reach the goal) or 10% for open campaigns (you get the money even if you dont reach your goal). For the marketplace campaigns (sales) we take 5%. The connect campaign is free for both sides.
If you are interested in building a new app, selling your existing source code, or partnering up with another mobile evangelist, check out appsplit!
