Besides raising cash, crowdfunding can be a way to test product ideas and build relationships with future customers.
Ram Malasani, CEO and founder of the 22-person company Securifi, isn’t the typical newbie entrepreneur you’d expect to find on Kickstarter, a wildly popular website where people can pitch projects and receive small pledges of financial support from anyone (see “10 Breakthrough Technologies, 2012: Crowdfundingâ€). But with weeks still left to go on its campaign for the Almond+, a reimagined Wi-Fi router that can also control connected home systems like a thermostat or lighting, Securifi has raised more than $340,000—far more than the original goal.