Tilt.com

Tilt (formerly Crowdtilt) was a crowdfunding company that allowed for groups and communities to collect, fundraise, or pool money online. The company was legally certified in securing fundraisers for non-profit organizations. James Beshara and Khaled Hussein launched under the name Crowdtilt in February 2012 out of Y Combinator. The company was initially based in Texas and was then headquartered in San Francisco, California.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Tilt.com
See parent
Private
IndustryCrowdfunding
FoundedTexas, United States (February 8, 2012 (2012-02-08))[1]
FounderJames Beshara
Khaled Hussein
Headquarters
370 Townsend, San Francisco, California
,
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
James Beshara (CEO)
ServicesCrowdfunding
ParentIndependent
(2012-2017)
Airbnb
(2017)[2][3]
Websitetilt.com

Background

Tilt CEO and co-founder James Beshara, a 2008 graduate of Wake Forest University, developed the concept for the group-funding platform while working as a microloans collection officer in South Africa.[11] Beshara utilized the concept of social collateral to create Dvelo.org, which aimed to provide group-funded loans to micro-insurance organizations.[5][12][13] When Dvelo users began to use the service to fund non-charity related ventures, Beshara shifted the company's model to concentrate on raising funds for parties, gifts, events, or any other cause that a user proposed.[4][5][11][12][13]

Beshara brought on Khaled Hussein as a co-founder in 2011.[12] Beshara and Hussein rebranded Dvelo as Crowdtilt and were accepted into the winter 2012 session of Y Combinator.[11][13][14][15][16]

Developments

In May 2012, the company closed its first round of funding at $2.1 million.[17][18] Investors included SV Angel, CrunchFund, and Reddit's Alexis Ohanian.[13][17][18]

In November 2012, the company met federal regulations regarding fundraising for nonprofits.[19] As a result, Crowdtilt fully supports charity fundraising, providing users with tax-deductible donation receipts.[18][19][20][21]

In December 2012, the company released a crowd-funding API that allows startups and third-party developers to integrate Crowdtilt's functionality into applications.[21][22][23][24]

In April 2013, the company raised $12 million in Series A financing.[7][23][25] The financing was led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.[7][23][25] This round of financing brought Crowdtilt's total funding to approximately $14 million.[23][26]

In December 2013, the company raised $23 million in Series B funding to help the company continue to grow its team and expand internationally.[27][28]

On July 31, 2014, Crowdtilt rebranded as simply Tilt.[29]

On August 28, 2014, Tilt announced that it was dropping fees for groups looking to collect money.[30] It is now free for organizers to collect money with their groups, and free for all contributors using their debit card for payments (a standard 3% processing fee still applies for credit cards). Previously, Tilt charged collect organizers a 2.5% fee on the total money pooled.[31]

Tilt began a collaboration with ESPN Fantasy Football in August 2014 to provide a safe, secure and simple way for league commissioners to collect ESPN fantasy football league dues.[32]

Services

Tilt.com

Tilt's principal product is a group-funding platform that allows users to contribute to and create campaigns of their choosing.[4][14][15] Every campaign is assigned a tilt point, which defines the minimum amount of funding needed to make the campaign successful.[4][5] Users can contribute as much as they like, and campaign funds are only released if the tilt point is met. A 2012 VentureBeat article reported that, “86% of [Crowdtilt] campaigns are successful, and on average, raise almost twice as much as they need to tilt. Campaigns that reach 34% of their goal have a 99% chance of going all the way, and 38% of activity happens in the last few hours.”[17] It is free for organizers to collect money with their groups, and free for all contributors using their debit card for payments (a standard 3% processing fee still applies for credit cards).

API

In December 2012 the company released an application programming interface (API) which allows third-party integration of the Tilt group payment functionality into any application.[22] The API's universal payments interface is compatible with multiple payment processors in any currency.[21][22][24][33]

Notable campaigns

The following are a few of the notable campaigns that were successfully funded on Tilt.

In May 2013, Soylent, a food substitute intended to supply all of a human body's daily nutritional needs, used Tilt to bring their nutritional drink to production. The company collected over $2,100,000 from over 20,000 supporters.[34][35]

In May 2013, Several campaigns were created to provide relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Crowdtilt waived their service fee for any donations and reported about $180,000 donations towards the hurricane-related projects.[17][19][20][36]

In April 2013, a Tilt campaign successfully raised over $50,000 to replace a boat "Slip Away II" that was damaged during the arrest of Dzhokar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. The boat's owner, David Henneberry, commented that he "doesn't want the money and would rather have it go to a fund for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing."[7][8][9][10] However, in October 2013 he accepted $50,000 to purchase a used boat he named "Beth Said Yes" (for his wife), and directed that the excess go to One Fund Boston.[37][38]

In early 2014 the Jamaica national bobsleigh team qualified for the 2014 Sochi Olympics but lacked funding to attend the games. An online campaign was set up to raise $80,000 through Tilt.[39] When it closed on January 22, 2014, the campaign had raised $129,687.[40][41]

In January 2014, To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ice Cube's classic song It Was a Good Day, a campaign was created to get a Goodyear Blimp embossed with Ice Cube's name. The creators launched a Tilt campaign to collect donations for a charity based in Ice Cube's hometown of Compton, California. The campaign raised over $25,000 for "A Place Called Home" to help at-risk youth, and Goodyear made the blimp fly at an event for Ice Cube, children and community members.[42][43]

In February 2014, Jared Guynes created a Tilt campaign to throw a 700-person Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles party and invite Vanilla Ice to perform.[44] More than 250 people donated the $35,000 to fund his party at South Side Music Hall in Dallas. The campaign ultimately raised more than $72,000.[45] Jared has since thrown other parties, one featuring Mario Kart, using Tilt campaigns.[46]

In March 2014, Lammily, the fashion doll with realistic proportions, raised over $500,000 on Tilt from over 13,000 supporters.[47]

Airbnb Acquisition

In 2017, Airbnb acquired Tilt for $12 million in cash as an acqui-hire, since the business was never profitable but had some talented employees.[48][49] Airbnb retired the Tilt platform in June 2017.[50]

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References
  1. Rip Empson (February 10, 2012). "Y Combinator-Backed Crowdtilt Launches To Become The "Kickstarter For Any Group"". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  2. "Airbnb finalizes deal to buy social payments startup Tilt – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com.
  3. "Tilt Blog". blog.tilt.com.
  4. Sarah Mitroff (February 10, 2012). "Crowdtilt launches to group fund anything (and it means anything)". VentureBeat. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  5. "It's Kickstarter Meets 'Let's Party': Group-Funded Fun is Crowdtilt's Game". Daily Finance. March 15, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  6. Sam Dwyer (April 18, 2012). "Crowdfunding Sites for Before and After the Regulations Kick In". BostInno. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  7. Cromwell Schubarth (April 26, 2013). "Crowdtilt helps raise funds to replace Boston bombing standoff boat". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  8. Brian Chappatta & Annie Linskey (April 23, 2013). "Crowd Helps Replace Boat Ruined in Tsarnaev's Capture". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  9. Jessica Testa (April 22, 2013). "The Internet Is Raising Money For The Boat Destroyed In Boston Standoff". BuzzFeed. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  10. "Let's Fix David Henneberry's Boat". The Daily Beast. April 22, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  11. Sarah Kressler (August 9, 2012). "Peer Pressure: What Microloans and your next Group Purchase might havev in common". Fast Company. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  12. Casey Newton (May 17, 2012). "Crowdtilt raises cash in new ways". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  13. J.J. Colao (August 22, 2012). "A Website To Crowdfund Your Wedding (or Party Bus)". Forbes. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  14. Matt Lynley (August 22, 2012). "This Startup Is Going To Change The Way You Plan Events With Your Friends Forever". Business Insider. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  15. Sarah Perez (August 27, 2012). "Reddit Gets Two New Donation Options Powered By Crowdtilt And Dwolla". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  16. Tom Watson (August 31, 2012). "Reddit's Fundraising Partnerships: A Vote Up for Philanthropy?". Forbes. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  17. Rebecca Grant (November 7, 2012). "Crowdtilt funds pipe dreams into existence". VentureBeat. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  18. Ken Yeung (November 21, 2012). "Crowdtilt focuses on non-profits with new fundraising support, tax-deductible receipts, and lower costs". The Next Web. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  19. Liz Gannes (November 21, 2012). "Crowdfunding for a Cause: Nonprofits Can Now Hold Fundraisers on Crowdtilt". All Things Digital. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  20. Rip Empson (November 21, 2012). "Group-Funding Platform Crowdtilt Opens To Non-Profits, Now Offers Tax-Deductible Donations, Receipts". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  21. Rip Empson (December 12, 2012). "Crowdtilt Launches Crowdfunding API To Give Developers Easy Access To Group Payments & Social Fundraising". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  22. J.J. Colao (December 12, 2012). "The Crowdfunding API Is Here: Welcome To A New Era Of E-Commerce". Forbes. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  23. Rip Empson (April 18, 2013). "Crowdtilt Confirms $12M Raise From Andreessen, Sean Parker, Dave Morin & Others; Tables Mobile Acquisition". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  24. Kevin Sundstrom (December 12, 2012). "Today in APIs: Crowdtilt Releases an API That Provides Group Pay Ability, Jibe Mobile Raises $8.3 Million, and 8 New APIs". ProgrammableWeb. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  25. Rip Empson (March 22, 2013). "Crowdfunding Platform Crowdtilt Lands $12M From Sean Parker, Andreessen & More; Now Acquiring To Expand Into Mobile". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  26. J.J. Colao (April 18, 2013). "Crowdtilt Raises $12 Million From Andreessen Horowitz And Sean Parker (For Real This Time)". Forbes. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  27. Alex Konrad (16 December 2013). "Popular Group Funding Startup Crowdtilt Raises $23M In Series B Round". Forbes.
  28. "Crowdtilt Closes $23 Million Series B Funding Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz - Business Wire". businesswire.com.
  29. Jen Thorpe for Geek News Central. August 1, 2014 Crowdtilt Gets a New Name and Logo
  30. Beshara, James (28 August 2014). "The Best Things In Life Are Free: Tilt Announces Free Crowdfunding". Tilt Blog. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  31. Taylor, Colleen (28 August 2014). "Tilt, The Startup Formerly Known As Crowdtilt, Drops Fees For Groups Pooling Money". TechCrunch. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  32. "Touchdown: Tilt partners with ESPN to power payments for its fantasy football leagues". PandoDaily.
  33. Ki Mae Heussner (December 12, 2012). "Crowdtilt opens API to bring group-funding to any site". GigaOM. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  34. "Soylent Raises $750K On Crowdhoster. Who's Next?". Tilt Blog.
  35. "Crowdtilt (YC W12) raises $750K for Soylent and many others: Open source crowd funding with no restrictions". Y Combinator Posthaven.
  36. Dylan Love (November 1, 2013). "Here's Why Some People Are Dumping Kickstarter For Crowdtilt". Business Insider. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  37. Ng, Christina (October 3, 2013). "Man Who Found Boston Marathon Bomber Gets New Boat". ABC News. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  38. "David Henneberry, Man Who Found Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect, Gets New Boat Thanks To Strangers". Huffington Post. October 3, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  39. "Help the Jamaican Bobsled team get … - Tilt". crowdtilt.com.
  40. "The Internet wants to help send the Jamaican bobsled team to Sochi". For The Win.
  41. Borden, Sam (Jan 18, 2014). "Jamaican Bobsledders Seek Money for Sochi Trip". The New York Times. Retrieved Sep 12, 2014.
  42. Aylin Zafar. "There's A Charity Campaign To Make Ice Cube's Goodyear Blimp A Reality". BuzzFeed.
  43. "Help Put Ice Cube On The Goodyear Blimp For Charity". Co.Exist.
  44. "Cowabunga! Donors shell out $35,000 for Ninja Turtles superfan's 'epic party' with Vanilla Ice". dallasnews.com.
  45. "Crowdfunded EPIC PARTY: Vanilla Ice… - Tilt". crowdtilt.com.
  46. "Mario Kart Party Brings Back Memories". Tilt Blog.
  47. "Crowdtilt Helps To Push Lammily Toward $500K In Crowdfunding Cash". crowdfundinsider.com.
  48. Roof, Katie; Lawler, Ryan. "Airbnb finalizes deal to buy social payments startup Tilt | TechCrunch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  49. Harris, Ainsley (2017-04-18). "The Demise Of Tilt: A Bargain For Airbnb, A Classic Loss For Investors Like Andreessen Horowitz". Fast Company. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  50. "Tilt Blog". blog.tilt.com. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
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