Betaspring companies launch crowd-funding campaigns

3DAGOGO exceeded its Kickstarter campaign funding goal of $10,000 to support development of its 3-D printing software less than 24 hours of launching. From left to right, 3DaGoGo founders Daniel Arroyo, Drew Taylor and Joshua White. / COURTESY 3DAGOGO
3DAGOGO exceeded its Kickstarter campaign funding goal of $10,000 to support development of its 3-D printing software less than 24 hours of launching. From left to right, 3DaGoGo founders Daniel Arroyo, Drew Taylor and Joshua White. / COURTESY 3DAGOGO

PROVIDENCE – A Betaspring alumnus, a Betaspring maker fellow and a company currently participating in the 12-week accelerator program have launched crowd funding campaigns to support development and production of their software and physical products.
3DaGoGo, the 3-D printing software company currently in residence at Betaspring and 11 weeks into the program, surpassed its Kickstarter goal of $10,000 less than 24 hours after opening the funding campaign for its wireless 3-D-printing software, AstroPrint.
As of May 23, 219 people had backed the project for a total of $19,373. Founders Drew Taylor, Daniel Arroyo and Joshua White credited the fast success to the “overwhelming support” the campaign received from the 3-D printing and maker communities, who pushed the Kickstarter out over social media.
“The campaign continues and we want to get the word out about AstroPrint to as many more people as possible,” wrote founders Drew Taylor, Daniel Arroyo and Joshua White in an update to the Kickstarter campaign webpage. “We truly feel that AstroPrint will change the way people interact with [3-D printing] and makes the process easier for everyone, regardless of technical skill.”
The AstroPrint Kickstarter campaign will close on Thursday, June 19. For more information about the project, visit . www.kickstarter.com/projects/306530051/astroprinttm-wireless-3d-printing-software.
With 19 days left to raise $50,000 through its Kickstarter campaign, Betaspring alumnus Quitbit has so far raised $39,308 to fund the manufacture of an Internet-enabled, battery-operated cigarette lighter that tracks smoking habits and helps users quit. Quitbit graduated from the fall 2013 Betaspring class and developed four prototype iterations of the Quitbit lighter.
Currently, Quitbit is seeking funding to cover the cost of tooling, prepare the Quitbit for manufacture, and finish development of the iOS and Android app that will allow users to track their habits on their mobile phones.
Quitbit anticipates completing final testing of their prototype in August this year and beginning a manufacturing test run in October. If funded, the Quitbit lighter will ship to Kickstarter backers in December 2014, the company said.
The Quitbit Kickstarter campaign, which began May 12, has 537 backers and will end on Wednesday, June 11. To learn more, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/quitbit/quitbit-the-first-smart-lighter-and-app-to-track-s.
Finally, Maeve Jopson and Cynthia Poon of Increment launched an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign on May 13 to raise $30,000 for the production of the first 150 sets of their sensory learning toy, O-Rings.
Jopson and Poon, graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design, were “maker fellows” during the fall 2013 Betaspring session. The maker fellow program was conceived at Betaspring to provide mentoring and other resources to companies producing physical products, helping them bring products to market faster.
The O-Rings are four stackable toy rings, each with a different color, texture and filling, designed to be accessible to children of all ability levels at home, at school and during therapy.
“As designers, we focus on creating products that are responsive to our users’ needs through research and collaboration,” wrote Jopson and Poon on the Indiegogo campaign webpage. “We worked with educators, specialists, parents and kids to understand what unmet needs existed for children both in play and environment.”
The O-Rings Indiegogo campaign has raised $4,960 of the $30,000 goal, supported by 43 backers, and will remain open until Friday, June 27. For more information or to support the campaign, visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/o-rings-sensory-learning-playthings.

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