October 13 Crowdfunding Report: Now Home Takes the Top Spot

From Trinkets in the 10,000-Won Range to an 18.75-Million-Won Vacuum Cleaner

Polarization in funding amounts has become pronounced in the crowdfunding market. An analysis of 80 projects from 66 companies based on public data shows that funding totals ranged from a small charger in the 70,000-won range at the low end to a cordless vacuum cleaner that pulled in 18.75 million won—a gap of more than 250 times. As Descartes said, "It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well"—and in crowdfunding, too, success hinges not on the idea itself but on how product composition and pricing strategy are deployed.

The top of the funding table was dominated by home appliances, kids' products, and lifestyle goods. Now Home Co.'s cordless vacuum with automatic dust disposal and a Samsung battery surpassed 18.75 million won, while IQ Box's Playmobil–ESA space collaboration project also reached the 15.58-million-won mark. The fact that a single product—the giant "King Peach" (Onwa)—exceeded 15.7 million won, and that RunnerFit raised 8.96 million won by offering a full running set for just 18,900 won, shows that a "value-for-money frame" is the key switch that opens backers' wallets.

A Small-Scale Participation Structure Built on Repeat Backing and Encores

The picture at the bottom of the table is different. Low-priced trinkets such as travel compression pouches, mini cooling fans, and polishing towels stayed in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of won. Yet these trinket projects actually reveal a repeat-purchase and encore-driven operating strategy. SMS Co. launched chargers, pouches, and fans in succession across different categories, while People Korea, marking its 25th encore of its polishing towel and 22nd of its hair-drying towel, repeatedly appeals to small-dollar backers.

LOOK AT ME has also rolled out seasonal lifestyle goods in a steady stream—cooling boxer briefs, silicone body shower pads, wrist-mounted phone holders—maintaining stable funding levels of 450,000 to 500,000 won. It is a pattern that spreads risk across many small campaigns rather than betting on one big hit. The market, in short, is shaping up as one where two survival strategies coexist: "large projects that stake everything on a single campaign" and "small projects built up through encores."

Food, Content, and Even AI Tools: An Expanding Funding Landscape

The product landscape is broadening as well. In food, seasonal limited-edition farm products—Greenpick's peach and plum pies, Fruit Master's new grape variety "Purple Lady" and Apple Summer King—recorded 920,000 to 1.33 million won, confirming the effectiveness of scarcity marketing. Customized categories emphasizing materials and functionality have also taken hold, such as Jung A.I. Wear's domestically produced titanium glasses and Truvo's anti-theft sling bag.

What stands out is knowledge, content, and AI tools. Simyeon's Library raised 1.62 to 2.97 million won for tarot-reading and numerology textbooks, while Audiobooks drew around 4.58 million won in backing for an audiobook of monk Beopjeong's voice recordings. A host of self-production tools leveraging generative AI also emerged, including Sokon's AI short-form video creation tool (3.8 million won), Algorithm's monetization system for non-developers (1.79 million won), and Sunsak Tool's AI short-form maker. It is a signal that crowdfunding is shifting from a simple merchandise sales channel to a platform absorbing individuals' content production and monetization needs.

Outlook: Price Framing and Encores as the Axis of Survival

The lesson from the 80-project dataset is simple. Projects whose funding took off put concrete prices and points of differentiation up front in their titles—"Full set for 18,900 won," "A delicacy only 1% of gourmets ever taste," "Powered by a Samsung battery." By contrast, cases where funding stalled kept their product descriptions stuck in sentimentality. Going forward, the crowdfunding market is expected to be anchored by two pillars—value-focused projects with explicit price competitiveness and repeat encores of proven products—while AI tools and knowledge content emerge as new growth categories. Operational capability that drives many small-dollar engagements is likely to be the decisive battleground.