BackerKit

What BackerKit does

BackerKit is a private, San Francisco-based crowdfunding and pledge management platform founded in 2012 by Maxwell Salzberg and Rosanna Yau. The company operates an end-to-end stack that enables creators to launch crowdfunding campaigns and then run the post-campaign fulfillment workflow — surveys, add-on sales, backer management, shipping coordination, and customer support — from a single integrated product. Its core offerings include the BackerKit Crowdfunding Platform, a Pledge Manager module, Launch (email marketing and automation), Support Services, Ads (crowdfunding-tuned advertising), BackerTracker (trending project discovery), a Pre-order Marketplace, and a newer Collab-Funding feature that lets multiple creators run simultaneous themed campaigns with cross-promotion.

The platform serves professional and independent creators across at least 15 categories, with tabletop games, role-playing games, and writing and publishing as primary verticals, and a customer base of 28,600+ creators, 64% of which are repeat users. Notable enterprise customers include Brandon Sanderson/Dragonsteel ($23M campaign), Steve Jackson Games, Mini Museum, Troll Lord Games, Lay Waste Games, Peak Design, and GIR. BackerKit has cumulatively processed over $3.7B in crowdfunding volume and is used by 55% of the top 100 crowdfunding creators.

The company generates revenue from three streams: transaction fees on platform-hosted crowdfunding campaigns, recurring subscription revenue from the Pledge Manager software, and advertising services. Distribution is primarily self-serve via backerkit.com, with an additional enterprise demo path for high-volume creators. In June 2025, BackerKit raised over $3M in an equity crowdfunding round on Wefunder, with participation from SV Angel and Y Combinator. The company competes with Kickstarter and Gamefound, particularly in the tabletop gaming vertical.

Name

BackerKit

Legal name

BackerKit

Website

https://backerkit.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BackerKit is a San Francisco-based crowdfunding and pledge management platform founded in 2012, serving 28,600+ creators across tabletop games, publishing, and consumer products with integrated campaign hosting, post-campaign fulfillment, and collaborative event campaigns.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Crowdfunding Platform

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Fundraising & Crowdfunding Platforms (Recurring/Project-Based) (MPACAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Creator Tipping, Donations & Micro-Payments (MPACAFAB), Creator Monetization Tools (Subscriptions, Tips, Merch) (BPAMALAH)

Keywords

• Crowdfunding platform
• Pledge management software
• Creator economy tools
• Backer management system
• Pre-order marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Crowdfunding Platform Fees: BackerKit charges creators a platform fee for running crowdfunding campaigns on the platform, facilitating transactions between creators and backers
2. Pledge Management Services: Professional pledge management software services for creators handling post-campaign operations including surveys, add-ons, and fulfillment coordination
3. Advertising Services: High-performing ads services specifically designed for crowdfunding campaigns

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

BackerKit provides a web-based crowdfunding platform combined with professional pledge management software, enabling creators to launch campaigns, collect pledges, run backer surveys, sell add-ons, coordinate fulfillment, and maintain ongoing pre-order sales. The platform supports a marketplace of third-party creator projects across categories such as tabletop games, role-playing games, publishing, fashion, and design.

Product overview

BackerKit is an end-to-end crowdfunding platform offering both a professional tech stack and collaborative network for creators. The platform consists of the core Crowdfunding Platform for launching and managing campaigns, paired with the Pledge Manager for post-campaign operations including surveys, add-ons, backer management, and support. Additional modules include Launch (email marketing and automation), Support Services, Ads (advertising for crowdfunding), and Collab-Funding (collaborative campaigns). The ecosystem also includes BackerTracker for trending project discovery and a Pre-order Marketplace for ongoing sales. Together, these products serve professional creators across categories including tabletop games, role-playing games, enamel pins, writing and publishing, fashion, comics, and more.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BackerTracker: Trending projects tracking tool for backers to discover popular campaigns
• Collab-Funding
• The Creative Fund

Products and services

• BackerKit Crowdfunding Platform Core crowdfunding platform that enables creators to launch and manage campaigns, with tools for driving awareness, demand, and revenue through pledge-inducing experiences. Used by 28,600+ creators across categories including tabletop games, RPGs, publishing, fashion, and design.
• Pledge Manager
• Collab-Funding Collaborative crowdfunding offering that allows creators to team up with other creators to run bigger, themed campaigns together with shared promotion and cross-reward incentives. Marketed as a 'NEW' feature on the platform.
• BackerKit Ads High-performing advertising solutions specifically designed for crowdfunding campaigns, offered as a service to BackerKit creators to amplify reach and conversions.
• Pre-order Marketplace Marketplace of funded BackerKit projects that are open for ongoing pre-orders, allowing backers to make additional purchases beyond the initial campaign and giving creators an extended sales channel.

Quantifiable outcome

• Creators who use BackerKit raise 15% more on average
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Crowdcube: UK- and Europe-focused equity crowdfunding platform. Comparable as crowdfunding infrastructure but primarily serves the UK and EU markets rather than BackerKit's North America core, illustrating international market structure BackerKit could expand into.

Direct peers

• Kickstarter: Direct competitor in reward-based crowdfunding for creators. Kickstarter is the largest incumbent in the space and the platform against which BackerKit initially built its pledge management layer before expanding into a full crowdfunding platform. Strong overlap in tabletop, publishing, and design categories.
• Gamefound: Direct competitor explicitly targeting tabletop game crowdfunding, with explicit ambitions to overtake Kickstarter in the tabletop category and 49% growth in 2024. Most head-to-head overlap with BackerKit in its strongest vertical.
• Indiegogo: Reward-based crowdfunding platform serving creators across consumer electronics, design, and film. Competes with BackerKit for creators seeking broad-audience campaigns and global reach, with deeper international footprint.

Emerging players

• Republic: Multi-asset crowdfunding platform offering equity, revenue-sharing, and digital asset offerings to retail investors. Adjacent competitor in crowdfunding infrastructure with overlap on creator and startup funding journeys.
• Ko-fi: Creator tipping, donations, memberships, and lightweight storefront platform. Competes with BackerKit for creator mindshare on monetization tools, especially for indie creators running smaller or more frequent funding asks.
• Patreon: Recurring creator monetization platform for memberships and subscriptions. While BackerKit focuses on episodic campaign funding, Patreon operates in the adjacent recurring fan-payment space and increasingly overlaps on creator CRM and audience monetization.
• Wefunder: Equity crowdfunding platform used by BackerKit for its own 2025 fundraise. Operates in the broader crowdfunding infrastructure space and represents both a partner and a potential competitor as the lines between reward-based and equity-based crowdfunding blur.
• StartEngine: Equity crowdfunding and regulated investment platform. Notable as both a category peer (crowdfunding infrastructure) and as a parallel to BackerKit's own Wefunder partnership, signaling convergence of reward and equity crowdfunding.

Broad incumbents

• Shopify: Dominant e-commerce platform whose pre-order, storefront, and backer management capabilities overlap with BackerKit's pre-order marketplace and pledge manager. A broad incumbent that competes indirectly as creators consider end-to-end commerce stacks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/backerkit
• Facebookfacebook.com/backerkit
• Instagraminstagram.com/backerkit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/backerkit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BackerKit