Le most successful crowdfunding campaigns of all time are those that have raised the most capital and together created the largest communities. This second element is almost as important as the first, because the community building broad and involved has often allowed for multiple consecutive crowdfunding campaigns and a base of investors and ambassadors to support them.

As we shall see, none of the top 10 successful campaigns in crowdfunding history are Italian: This is mainly due to the small market size of the crowdfunding in Italy compared with other countries and the small size of Italian companies.

Another significant finding from this ranking is that the campaigns with the greatest economic reach are ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) on blockchain, capable of mobilizing hundreds of millions of dollars from around the world without geographic or infrastructure barriers. However, it is important to consider the flipside of ICOs, which we discussed in thearticle on Utility Tokens, namely the risks of scamming and illiquidity of tokens.

Finally, it should be considered that the underlying mechanisms and motivations that drive investors and supporters vary considerably among reward, equity and lending models. These differences translate into very different scales of "successful" campaigns. For example, a reward campaign might be highly successful for raising tens of millions of dollars for an innovative product, while a campaign or series of equity rounds might be defined as such with hundreds of millions raised to fund the growth of a promising company.

We discover the 10 most successful crowdfunding campaigns And their secrets.

EOS (>4 billion $)

EOS is the project of a blockchain network that launched its Capital raising campaign through tokens on Ethereum in 2018. The promise was to build a blockchain operating system for decentralized applications, and in exchange for the capital, backers would get tokens that would then be expendable on that operating system.

The collection lasted a full year and exceeded $4 billion. It was 2018 and the fame of blockchain and crypto-assets was skyrocketing; EOS exploited this fame and attracted both retail investors and institutional investors, amplifying the impact of the operation.

Star Citizen (>800 mln $)

Star Citizen is a space combat video game that has garnered more than $800 million through a proprietary platform and successive reward crowdfunding campaigns dedicated to gamers from 2012 to the present.

The campaigns leveraged access to future game content as a reward, thus creating great and recurring engagement through constant product evolution.

Tezos (>230 mln $)

Tezos is an open source blockchain that offers services and is based on decentralized governance. Between June and July 2017, Tezos carried out an ICO with which it raised about 232 million dollars in exchange for future tokens expendable on the same network.

Tezos has staked a lot on the narrative of democratic and self-sustaining blockchain at a time of high euphoria for the crypto market. As with other ICOs, there was no shortage of critical issues and problems with bureaucracy and clashes with investors, but the network is still operational today.

Filecoin (>200 mln $)

Filecoin is a project by Protocol Labs that includes a cryptocurrency and a decentralized file sharing and storage service. In 2017 with its ICO it raised more than $200 million for establishing its network to activate the service, also attracting institutional investors.

Filecoin also took advantage of the popularity of blockchain-related services in those years, but in addition it focused on the hot topic of cloud storage and distinguished itself by attempting a regulated ICO by selecting an audience of accredited investors.

BrewDog (>200 mln $)

Scottish brewery BrewDog has made equity crowdfunding famous through its numerous capital-raising campaigns aimed first at ensuring its survival in difficult financial times, then at growing ever larger. Through its Equity for Punks project, BrewDog has raised over the years. over $200 million: we talked about it in the dedicated case study.

The DAO (>160 mln $)

The DAO stands for The Decentralized Autonomous Organization and was a kind of venture capital fund on blockchain, aimed at raising capital to be channeled on investments in startups decided by mutual agreement by the participants in the capital raising campaign, with decentralized governance applied through smart contracts. In 2016 it raised more than $160 million.

We talked about this in our article on crowdfunding and blockchain, because it did not turn out well: a hacker managed to breach a smart contract and embezzle about $60 million in Ethereum.

Boxabl (>150 mln $)

Boxabl is a modular home manufacturer that has been raising capital in equity and lending crowdfunding since 2020 to expand production and commercialization. It has currently raised more than $150 million By more than 40,000 investors.

The company focused its communication on the issue of the housing crisis, which affects so many people, and proposed an affordable solution.

Miso Robotics (>130 mln $)

Miso Robotics is a developer of artificial intelligence-based food robots for the restaurant industry. From 2020 to the present, it has raised about 133 million dollars in equity crowdfunding with a minimum investment size of $3,000. The company has targeted end users of the product directly and has also entered into major partnerships designed to support its market launch.

Knightscope (> 90 mln $)

Knightscope is a manufacturer of autonomous security robots that has financed its growth by raising about 90 million dollars in equity crowdfunding with multiple successive rounds of capital raising.

Pebble Time

Pebble pioneered the smartwatch market, raising more than $20 million in reward crowdfunding to make and market its Pebble Time. We talked about this in our Article on examples of successful reward crowdfunding campaigns.

Reflections on successful crowdfunding campaigns

The significant presence of blockchain projects at the top of this ranking highlights the disruptive impact that Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have had, especially during 2016-2018, mobilizing capital on a scale previously unimaginable for crowdfunding. The motivations of participants in these token sales were often a mixture of interest in the technology and speculative expectations about the future value of the tokens. Subsequently, such enthusiasm has cooled considerably: we will see if the New experimental forms of raising capital through tokens will be able to replicate these successes within the looming regulatory environment.

The other most successful crowdfunding campaigns, however, often take the form not of single time-limited campaigns, but of continuous streams of support or series of investment rounds that build and capitalize on trust and long-term engagement with a community of supporters or investors. This provides an understanding of how a crowdfunding campaign is not just a one-shot financial operation, but a marketing operation to be embedded within a long-term growth strategy, enabling valuable assets to be built for the company's future.

What are the common elements of the top 10 successful crowdfunding campaigns ever? In part they vary according to the type of crowdfunding considered, but in general they can be summarized in a few basic points:

• Clear marketing strategy
• Target customers or potential customers
• Attractive rewards
• Product or service that meets real needs
• Community involvement
• Thorough planning

We have elaborated on these and other points in our article on the 10 essential tips For a successful crowdfunding operation.