– Top 3 in the ‘Rising’ Category: △Membership △Kids △Characters & Merchandise
– Tech and home appliances ranked first in terms of the number of projects launched (21%), followed by beauty (16%) and home living and fashion (12%)
– Earlier this year, the funding categories were expanded from 17 to 139, attracting makers from a wide range of fields
Wadizannounced on the 1st that, according to its analysis of first-half funding trends, funding in the membership, kids, and merchandise sectors surged by an average of 765% compared to the same period last year.
The rapid growth of service areas such as memberships and subscriptions, as well as projects focused on children’s content, characters, and merchandise, was largely driven by the effective segmentation of categories to reflect changing tastes and trends.
By significantly expanding the range of tangible and intangible categories eligible for crowdfunding from 17 to 139, a wider variety of creators—from small business owners seeking to attract new customers, both online and offline, to content creators—can now take on the challenge of fundraising.
According to Wadizanalysis of pre-order payments from the first half of the year, the results were divided into categories based on the sectors that raised the most funding and those that experienced rapid growth.
Based on the number of campaigns launched by category, Tech & Home Appliances (21%) ranked first, followed by Beauty (16%), Home Living (12%), and Fashion (12%). Small home appliances, in particular, drove growth in this category. Products offering excellent value for money, such as beam projectors and beauty devices, were chosen by supporters seeking reasonable purchases, successfully raising 1.7 billion and 1.3 billion won, respectively.
The fastest-growing sectors were △Membership, which took first place with 2,109% growth, followed by △Kids at 106% and △Characters & Merchandise at 81%. The membership sector, which was previously nonexistent, gained immense popularity by allowing consumers to purchase store memberships—such as those for photo studios and restaurants—at reasonable prices. It garnered attention because store owners could effectively promote their businesses online, while customers could enjoy cost-effective spending.
In addition, a variety of online subscription campaigns were launched. A flower subscription service that delivers seasonal flowers every month raised 170 million won, while a crowdfunding campaign for IT news subscriptions attracted over 300 participants and raised 33 million won.
In the creative sector, Ralph Sosa, the production company behind *The Simpsons*, launched a “limited-edition pop art project” in which they created caricatures of me. The project garnered significant attention, with approximately 680 fans contributing to the crowdfunding campaign, raising 290 million won—58,023% of the original goal.
Meanwhile, Wadizplans to continue expanding the range of sectors eligible for funding and actively support their growth. To this end, it will hold monthly themed campaigns tailored to the specific needs of small businesses and corporations.
A Wadiz representative said, “In the first half of the year, we reorganized our categories to reflect customers’ diverse preferences, and as a result, certain sectors saw remarkable growth,” adding, “We will continue to build a unique funding ecosystem Wadizreflects market trends and makers’ needs.”
