Crowdfunding Report for November 12: Nowhome Vacuum Cleaner Takes the Top Spot
Home appliances, food, and AI tools swept the top ranks of crowdfunding fundraising totals. An analysis of 80 publicly available crowdfunding projects from 66 companies showed that what opens backers' wallets is not flashy technology but practical, everyday products.
Consumption Patterns Among the Top Fundraisers
The largest fundraising total among the projects surveyed was Nowhome Co.'s cordless vacuum featuring a Samsung battery, which surpassed 18.75 million won. It was followed by Ongwa's King Peach project at 15.7 million won and IQBox's Playmobil space collaboration toy at 15.58 million won. The common thread is clear: all are products consumers can use immediately in daily life.
Another hallmark of top-ranked projects is trust. Nowhome led with the component brand name "Samsung Battery," while IQBox touted its "Playmobil X ESA" collaboration. It suggests that the way unfamiliar startups persuade backers has evolved toward borrowing the names of established conglomerates and global brands. Ongwa's scarcity-driven copy of "peaches only 1% of gourmets used to eat" and RunnerFit's price-shattering pitch of "a full 9-item package for 18,900 won" can be read in the same context.
A Second-Half Market Led by Food and Household Goods
By category, food shows a particularly strong presence. Several projects built around seasonal produce were confirmed: Greenpick, which sold peach and plum compote; Fruit Meister, which offered high-sugar Grade grapes under the Purple Lady label and Apple Summer King apples; and Yu Hyung-gon, which introduced charcuterie. Highlighting limited-season fruits underscores that timeliness can determine fundraising success.
Household goods and fashion accessories also carried significant weight. Trubo's anti-theft sling bag raised 2.92 million won, and People Korea's three-way leather bag brought in 1.3 million won. Jung Eyewear enticed consumers with concrete specs such as ultra-light 8.8-gram titanium glasses. As Herodotus put it, one should report what one hears but not always believe it—backers today no longer open their wallets on emotion alone. Verifiable numbers such as grams and wattage now sit at the center of the copy.
The Quiet Entry of AI Tools
A notable shift comes from AI content tools. Ssokon's AI short-form video production service raised 3.8 million won, and Algorixm's AI service builder for non-developers collected 1.79 million won. Tools like Socsag Tool also emerged, allowing users to create short-form videos without editing expertise. If crowdfunding was once centered on hardware and food, this can be seen as an early signal that software and subscription services are establishing themselves as a new axis.
That said, fundraising totals in the AI category have yet to reach the levels of top appliances and food projects. This is attributed to limited demand from individual creators and solo media operators. Growth potential is clear, but the market remains in an early validation stage.
The Success Formula Revealed by Reopens and Encores
The data also shows traces of encore sales. People Korea promoted its 25th encore of a glossy towel and 22nd encore of a hair-drying towel. The very existence of projects relaunched more than a dozen times demonstrates that repurchases of proven demand have become a stable revenue stream for crowdfunding. The market is maturing into a structure where managing existing backers, rather than creating new demand, determines profitability.
On the other hand, there are cases like SM Co. that launched multiple projects yet raised only tens of thousands of won each. Low-priced, small-budget categories can secure visibility but face limits in expanding fundraising scale. Per-project average spending and repurchase rates, rather than the number of projects, are emerging as survival variables for companies.
The crowdfunding market is expected to be restructured around a triad of home appliances backed by trusted component and brand collaborations, seasonal foods, and AI content tools. As platform data accumulates, backers' choices will increasingly gravitate toward verified numbers, and the early-era formula of winning with a single line of copy will gradually lose its power.
