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"Singapore's StarHub announced what it claimed is\u00A0the world\u2019s first telco-backed crowdfunding platform in April, and today its\u00A0Crowdtivate service went live to the public.\r\n\r\nThere are an initial 12 projects on the site, ranging from a smart air conditioning system, to a hybrid mechanical watch, an aspiring musician, and a selfie photo app. The projects are taken from Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and were apparently selected from &amp;quot;hundreds&amp;quot; of entries that the company received from entrepreneurs.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe site looks like Kickstarter and others but it does more than just fund projects. There are three distinctly different options available.\r\n\r\nCrowdfunding, which raises funds by selling packages to backers as per similar sites; Crowd Voting, which doesn't include money or funding but lets entrepreneurs 'validate' an idea by asking for support in the form of up-votes. Finally, there is Crowdsourcing, which gathers skills and resources from contributors in order to fulfill a specific goal.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe site takes payment from Paypal as well as credit cards, which is important because -- Singapore aside -- the rate of credit card penetration is very low in some countries. While the site is initially focus on backers from Singapore with listings in Singapore dollars, it open to all parts of the world.\r\n\r\nCrowdfunding is still a pretty new concept\u00A0in Asia, although there have been a number of successful projects out of the region --\u00A0most notably\u00A0The Buccaneer 3D printer,\u00A0which raised nearly $1.5 million after registering in the US.\r\n\r\nKickstarter hasn\u2019t arrived in Southeast Asia, though this could be imminent given that it\u00A0expanded into Asia Pacific\u00A0via Australia\u00A0last year. There are, however, a couple of local offerings, as\u00A0Australia\u2019s\u00A0Pozible has expanded into Singapore and Malaysia, and\u00A0Indiegogo\u00A0is available.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Crowdtivate\r\n\r\nHeadline image via Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/asia/2014/07/22/starhubs-crowdfunding-platform-goes-live-offering-entrepreneurs-asia-new-options/>