Crowdfunding has come a long way. What started with pioneer Kickstarter a little over a decade ago, has become a booming and crowded space with many stories of record-breaking success.
And, of course, failures that have kicked off more sh*tstorms than anyone can keep track of, and sometimes even lawsuits, by disappointed backers. Along the way the market has diversified into basically any vertical one could imagine (e.g. Experiment.com enables scientists to crowdfund their research) and the first platforms have come and gone.