Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has today extended its partnership with live streaming platform Huzza by acquiring them. This can also be seen as a major development for the company as this gives them a foothold in Canada, amid the ongoing immigration ban. The details of the transaction haven’t been disclosed by either of the two parties.
Huzza had already been working closely with the company on the development of their new Live platform. It was launched as an additional feature for the community to know the progress of products in real-time. It was also launched with the aim of providing users an engaging experience with the creative journey of the founders and engineers of products they’ve backed (or are willing to back). Kickstarter Live also enabled creators to gain real-time feedback from the community.
Speaking about the new feature during its launch, Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler had said,
The key to Kickstarter Live is its intimacy. It brings creators and the people supporting them right into the same room together. And it encourages personal connection. Viewers can ask questions, chat, send selfies, select rewards, and back the project — all while tuned in.
And now, the company is looking to make the development of this intimate Live feature a priority due to its surprising conversion rate. The campaigns which had been utilizing this feature have enjoyed a success rate of nearly 74 percent, says Kickstarter. This is almost double the average conversion rate of a campaign launched on the platform. It proves that community members were more attached and engaged with the Live video campaign rather than the average Joe one.
Post the acquisition, Huzza founders Justin Womersley and Nick Smit will be leading the Live platform. But, what’s even more important in this development is the fact that they’ll continue to do so from their headquarters in Canada. Thus, this leads to the opening of Kickstarter’s very first international office.
The timing of this news couldn’t be any better as technology giants are complaining against the immigration ban, but there’s one company who’s taking action. Kickstarter has also updated its job listing page and is now looking to hire a handful of engineers and designers to help build out its team locally.
This is Kickstarter’s second acquisition of all time. In its eight years of operation, the company has acquired only one more startup — Drip. It acquired the music community service back in March, in efforts to focus its attention on creative projects related to Music. It’s currently also planning to expand its presence across Asia and has chosen Singapore and Thailand to crowdfund projects.
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