Kicking off

US based crowdfunding site Kickstarter is set to launch in the UK later this year. The site has helped to launch everything from an open source submarine to a new Amanda Palmer album and will now enable British entrepreneurs to target fans with various pre-sale incentives and exclusives in exchange for investment.

Announcing the news on Twitter, the New York based company, which was founded in 2009 posted: "People in the UK will be able to launch projects on Kickstarter starting this autumn.” Previously, British based creators had to either set up in the States or have an American ally to tap into Kickstarter making it about as easy as passing through JFK airport security without being interrogated at great length.

The campaign to manufacture a giant anchor to attach to Chris Brown’s pop career starts here. With a reported success rate of 44% of projects hitting their funding target, it has to worth a shot!

Of course, there are already several crowdfunding sites active in the UK including Crowdfunder, Peoplefund.it and Indiegogo, which in particular has been successful for several independent music projects. This week, the authors of ‘Riverside: Newcastle’s Legendary Alternative Music Venue’ hit their $5,000 target to make a documentary about the venue via Indiegogo.