Indiegogo is launching ‘Express Crowdfunding’ so creators can ship things sooner

Indiegogo plans to launch a new “Express Crowdfunding” campaign format that will allow creators to ship items while the campaign is in progress instead of forcing creators to wait until the campaign ends.

Indiegogo spokesperson Maciej Kuc said The edge that the change was driven by Indiegogo’s recent move to infrastructure by its new owner, board game crowdfunding company Gamefound:

Moving to a completely new technology is always a major challenge. The technology Indiegogo is currently working on was originally created for Gamefound – a slightly more “typical” crowdfunding platform. Its basic premise was that creators were running a campaign to raise money to bring a product to life. The technology predicted that at least two weeks would pass between the crowdfunding campaign and the pledge management phase – the point where orders are finalized, new ones are added, and delivery addresses are collected.

A striking example of the delays of the current system, pointed out by Android Authoritywas Ayaneo’s campaign for its new Pocket AIR Mini retro gaming handheld. Ayaneo had originally planned to start shipping the handheld by the end of November, but due to “platform political requirements,” the company says it can’t collect shipping addresses until December 5. Specifically, Ayaneo says it cannot request to move the campaign to the Pledge Manager phase, where delivery addresses are collected, before December 2, and that this request takes approximately three days to review. Shipments will now begin “around” December 10, according to Ayaneo.

Indiegogo’s new Express Crowdfunding format “should be available” in early February, Kuc says.