September 25 Crowdfunding Report: Now Home Vacuum Cleaner Tops at 18.75 Million Won
Crowdfunding Spending Concentrated in Appliances, Apparel, and Food
A look at data from 80 projects run by 66 crowdfunding companies shows that backing is heavily concentrated in a handful of blockbuster products, while categories have narrowed to everyday consumer goods tailored to the summer season. On a single-product basis, Now Home Co.'s 550W cordless vacuum cleaner equipped with a Samsung battery led the pack with roughly 18.75 million won raised, followed by On&'s King Peaches (about 15.7 million won), IQBox's Playmobil space collaboration (about 15.58 million won), and RunnerFit's running full set (about 8.96 million won). A few top projects account for a large share of total fundraising, revealing a highly skewed structure. Henry Ford said the joy of work comes from the sense of having accomplished something, but in the crowdfunding market, joy appears split between a few record-breaking successes and many modest outcomes.
The fundraising distribution shows clear polarization. The gap ranges from Now Home's 18.75 million won to SMS Co.'s portable charger at around 70,000 won — a spread of more than 250 times. Top projects were dominated by items with broad practical appeal such as vacuum cleaners, food, toys, running gear, and audiobooks. In contrast, the lower tier was crowded with accessories and small household goods. Low-priced, mass-market items like PeopleKorea's glossy towels (around 60,000 won) and SMS's ultra-light compression pouches (around 360,000 won) tend to attract smaller backing overall. In other words, a product's impact and scarcity — not its unit price — determine fundraising totals.
Summer Seasonality Shapes the Category Landscape
The category mix of the 80 projects directly reflects the season. Several agrifood companies were included, such as Greenpick with peach and plum compotes and pies, On& with its exclusive King Peaches, and Fruit Meister showcasing its high-sugar Geobong grapes and a new apple variety. On&'s King Peaches raising 15.7 million won is proof that premium fruit built on rare varieties holds strong appeal in crowdfunding. It reads as a case where marketing successfully converts a short harvest window of just a few months into product scarcity.
Cooling products also stand out. LOOK AT ME raised around 490,000 won with cooling underwear, while SMS Co. — not Sayes — targeted travel and heat-wave demand with a 100-speed mini cooling fan and ultra-light compression pouches. Multi-functional apparel and small appliances are splitting seasonal demand. The lineup also included numerous lightweight-focused projects, such as Jung Eyewear's 8.8-gram ultra-light titanium glasses and Truvo's anti-theft sling bag (about 2.92 million won), showing that weight-saving design has become a common language of consumer persuasion.
AI Tools Enter the Scene as Niche Content Thrives
A pattern shift is also visible in technology and content. Multiple generative AI-based tool projects were identified, including Ssok-On's AI shorts production (about 3.8 million won), Algorixm's AI service-building tool for non-developers (about 1.79 million won), and Sunsaktul's AI short-form maker. The repeated appearance of concepts in which non-experts create content and revenue streams with AI suggests that creative and side-hustle demand is emerging as a new driver of crowdfunding.
Niche content also delivered notable results. Simyeon's Library raised about 1.62 million won and 2.97 million won respectively with its Lemony Snicket textbook and tarot-reading and numerology textbooks, while Audiobooks drew about 4.58 million won in backing for an audiobook featuring the voice of monk Beopjeong. In-depth content aimed at specific enthusiast audiences proved it can raise funds on par with mass-market products. PeopleKorea's case, which explicitly announced a re-run, also shows that relaunch strategies have become a means of retaining loyal backers — evidence that the industry's operations have grown more sophisticated.
Outlook: Projects Combining Practicality and Scarcity Hold the Edge
The trends emerging from this data can be summarized in three points. First, home appliances and premium food dominate fundraising totals. Second, seasonal products and lightweight designs are broadly distributed by project count. Third, AI tools and niche content are emerging as new growth axes. Given that the common thread among top projects was either strong perceived value for the price or hard-to-obtain scarcity, products that clearly solve problems are expected to remain at the center of crowdfunding dollars going forward. Rather than gathering many small contributions, the planning ability to target a core demand segment is likely to be the deciding variable in crowdfunding success.
