Hong Kong Economic Times published a feature on how shrewd ventures are turning to FringeBacker's bilingual crowdfunding platform for their kick-start, as well as highlights of of its fundraising successes -- Claire Lee's "Tofu+Violence", Jacqueline Lai's journey to become National Games silver medallist, upcycling designer Agnes Nong, and UK a capella champions All the King's Men's Asia Tour.
http://www.hket.com/eti/article/1e213f55-f545-460c-beff-7740f05ab17e-571149?section=001
Thanks to the wonderful people at Star Cruises, FringeBacker secured a series of solo exhibitions on this magnificent cruise liner for FringeBacker-funded illustrator Syrus Kwan.Kwan's successful campaign on FringeBacker innovatively brings about public participation in art, against his artistic backdrop of distinctively iconic Hong Kong landmarks.
Congratulations to FringeBacker-funded Jacqueline Lai for winning the Silver Medal in the Equestrian Showjumping Individual Competition at the 12th All-China National Games!
For the first time, a crowdfunded international athlete stood on the medal stand at China's National Games. In a watershed event for the international future of crowdfunding, Hong Kong's Jacqueline Lai took home the Silver Medal in the individual Equestrian Showjumping competition yesterday, after winning over the public with her HK$482,100 (US$63,000) funding campaign success on FringeBacker earlier this year, surpassing her goal by 160%.
"Crowdfunding has now become a very important part of many international athletes' funding strategy, as well as starting to gain traction among many talented people in China," said FringeBacker Executive Director Maryann Hwee, noting that Lai's achievement yesterday was likely to be seen as a turning point for the use of crowdfunding to promote and nurture sports development.
The Hong Kong Equestrian Federation officially announced that FringeBacker-funded Equestrian Gold-Medallist Jacqueline Lai will represent Hong Kong as one of 4 equestrians at the 12th National Games in Shenyang, Liaoning from 2nd to 11th September 2013. This is the first time a publicly-crowdfunded athlete has been selected to compete in the elite Games. Congratulations to Jacqueline and her team!
Apple Daily http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/sports/art/20130822/18388893
SingPao http://www.singpao.com/ty/zg/201308/t20130822_454454.html
TaKungPao http://news.takungpao.com.hk/paper/q/2013/0822/1845293.html
Jacqueline Lai's Equestrian Showjumping campaign has successfully raised an impressive HK$482,100 (US$62,200), the highest to date on FringeBacker. Breaking all of FringeBacker’s fundraising records and setting the world’s crowdfunding record for a sportsman, Lai’s campaign has ended on 7 June, becoming probably the world's largest by an international athlete. With her campaign successfully funded, Jacqueline will be focusing on the outdoor season and readying herself for competitions, including the 12th National Games in September 2013.
"Online Crowdfunding -- A Comprehensive Coverage of Methods, Execution, Case Studies & Risks" -- Sun Money's cover story on crowdfunding featured FringeBacker and Kickstarter, plus 2 of FringeBacker's fundraisers who have captivated media attention: David Wong ("Spy B" iPhone filmmaker) and Denis Huen (inventor of the RFID Dual-Signal Wallet for iPhone).
http://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/finance/20130617/00434_056.html
FringeBacker was invited to join in the panel discussion for Hong Kong’s very first HK WebFest on 5th-7th June 2013. This Hong Kong's first festival for web content, transmedia, branded entertainment and webseries as part of the annual Le French May. The Festival brings together content creators, producers and finance partners from around the world to discuss and explore new formats of crossplatform storytelling as well as finance structures for international co-productions. Crowdfunding in recent years is transforming the way independent filmmakers raise funds and its significance is leveling up to traditional funding structure.
With thrilling panel discussions and project presentations by international industry experts, the event concentrates on encouraging local creators to produce their content with transmedia tools and production models, shaping the future of the Asian entertainment industry, continuing Hong Kong's success as a creative hub.
Webseries Panel Discussion - on-the-run entertainment for mobile screens, finance & distribution strategies. Panelists includes : Michael Ajakwe, executive director LA Webfest; Marco Sparmberg, founder of HKWebFest; and Herwig Kopp, transmedia strategist NORmALUM; and Maryann Hwee, executive director of FringeBacker.
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has been doing a fantastic job supporting Hong Kong businesses, and the Entrepreneur Day, now in its fifth edition, was another huge success. Entrepreneur Day featured more than 120 exhibitors, seminars and forums, and brought together over 13,000 entrepreneurs and potential investors and offered a wealth of start-up opportunities and support services.
FringeBacker was thrilled to be a special part of this two-day event held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. We invited a number of our crowdfunding winners to make live appearances with us to create a unique "Meet the Winners" event. Upcycling designer Agnes Nong talked to designers about how she crowdfunded her design project; iPhone film director David Wong talked to the media on how crowdfunding funded his innovative film; and Denis Huen, spoke about his patented technological invention the Dual-Signal Wallet with other young inventors.
On top of that, public art illustrator Syrus Kwan shared the stage with FringeBacker and prominent entrepreneurs in talking to a packed hall about how crowdfunding made his public art project come to life.
FringeBacker’s Maryann Hwee talked about how crowdfunding can help entrepreneurs raise funds for their businesses at the Entrepreneurship Seminar.
Over 300 audiences were at the seminar with FringeBacker’s Maryann Hwee and illustrator Syrus Kwan sharing his success tips on crowdfunding.
Hong Kong iPhone filmmaker David Wong was interviewed by the Trade Development Council for a video to share his experience on how crowdfunding helps independent filmmakers to fund their films.
SPY B, an awesome movie written, directed and produced by David Wong, is Hong Kong's answer to the newest exciting genre to hit the world stage, iPhone filmmaking. One of the first successfully crowdfunded iPhone film in Hong Kong, Wong’s campaign has exceeded 341% of his funding target, reaching a high of HK$85,400. Crowdfunding has far exceeded Wong's expectations, in a way that will no doubt inspire many independent filmmakers. Will this film make it into the winners at the iPhone Film Festival? Wong has already seen overwhelming response and support throughout his crowdfunding campaign, winning is just another icing on the cake.
SCMP'S culture reporter Kylie Knott authored an in-depth article on how FringeBacker turns ideas into reality, and analysed its successful crowdfunding campaigns: “With Hong Kong's FringeBacker, achieving big dreams just a click away. A Hong Kong-based crowdfunding website is helping creatives worldwide turn their ideas into reality
