Democratizing finance, one project at a time: Danae Ringelmann to keynote Distill

Supporting the ideas of talented and innovative individuals has always been a passion of mine. I’m constantly inspired by those pursuing their dreams and accelerating the development of ground-breaking technologies. Indiegogo, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, empowers individuals to give their ideas a shot, and others to find and fund those new ideas and projects they’re passionate about.

Taking on an issue as large and all-encompassing as democratizing finance and funding is a mammoth task, but someone’s got to do it. Indiegogo has pioneered the crowdfunding industry through its open and flexible approach. Fortune magazine deemed Indiegogo the Android of crowdfunding, which is why ideas are launching in every industry, from all corners of the earth. Everyone from social entrepreneurs like the Solar Roadway inventors from Idaho, to open source software supporters like Linux Voice, and to major corporations like Marvell, can use Indiegogo to raise funds, build audiences, and connect with people around the world. Removing gatekeepers from the funding process has enabled Indiegogo to put the power of funding back into the hands of the people, thereby decentralizing finance, just as YouTube decentralized video distribution, Twitter decentralized information sharing and eBay decentralized commerce.

As a leader at Indiegogo and in the crowdfunding movement, Danae Ringelmann constantly pushes the limits of what funding and finance mean in today’s world. A few years ago, Danae quit her job in finance and founded Indiegogo with a couple of friends. Since its founding, Indiegogo has become the go-to place for small, entrepreneurial businesses to seek funding, versus the typical venture capital routes. Because of Danae and Indiegogo, entrepreneurs are able to pursue their dreams and ideas more than ever before, pushing the boundaries of creative uses and applications of breakthrough technologies.

Indiegogo is moving technology as we know it forward faster than ever before. In August 2013, Canary—a mobile-controlled home monitor system–raised nearly $2 million from 7,461 contributors. Currently, New Matter, an affordable 3D printer with wireless connectivity has raised over $500,000 so far. And these projects are just the tip of the iceberg. Indiegogo’s interdisciplinary focus allows projects of all shapes to get funded, from art films to crowdfunding hardware technologies.

We are very excited to announce Danae Ringelmann, Founder and Chief Development Officer of Indiegogo, as a keynote at Distill. She will be talking about how she got started and the future of crowdfunding at Distill 2014. Tickets are available now at http://distill.engineyard.com