Amazon teams up with Kickstarter to sell crowdfunded products
Amazon has announced that it is expanding its Launchpad store to include a new Kickstarter Collection featuring successful products from the crowdfunding site. From 28 July, over 300 items produced via Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns will be available for purchase under various categories on Amazon including electronics, homewares, toys, and educational resources. The new products will help Amazon on its quest to make its store different from the many online competitors, and is great news for Kickstarter users who have the funds to produce their products thanks to successful crowdfund campaigns, but may not have access to advanced, highly visible e-commerce functionality to sell them. 

Amazon now has such a vast inventory of stuff, it needs to work a little harder to find new products to sell you.

The online retailer is doing just that by teaming up with Kickstarter to offer more than 300 products that originated on the crowdfunding site. The products, dubbed the Kickstarter Collection, can be found on the startup-focused Amazon Launchpad storefront.

The new relationship with Kickstarter could make it easier for more entrepreneurs and inventors to bring their products to market, while also helping Amazon bolster its selection.

The products, some of which have already been available on Amazon, include Prynt, an iPhone case that prints out your photos (raised $1.6 million on Kickstarter); MudWatt, an educational kit that teaches kids about electricity-generating bacteria (raised $35,000); and Brew Cutlery, utensils with bottle-openers on the stems (raised $20,000).

Since its debut a year ago, Amazon Launchpad has worked with more than 100 venture capital firms, startup accelerators, and crowdfunding sites to help over 1,000 startups launch products in the US, UK, China, Germany and France.

Amazon Launchpad is another way the world's largest e-retailer can make its store different from competitors. The company last year also launched Amazon Exclusives, which offers a selection of products only available on Amazon and on the product maker's own website.