Quirky
 | |
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Founder(s) | Ben Kaufman |
| Net income |
 [citation needed] |
| Employees | 120+[citation needed] |
| Slogan(s) | We Make Invention Accessible |
| Website | www.quirky.com |
| Registration | Optional |
| Users | 542,000+www.quirky.com/about |
| Available in | English |
| Launched | June 2009 |
| Current status | Active |
Quirky is an invention company headquartered in New York City. Quirky brings products to the marketplace through interaction between the online global community and Quirky’s product design staff.
History
Ben Kaufman, the then 23 year old company CEO, founded Quirky in 2009. Kaufman developed Quirky based on the belief that ordinary people have extraordinary ideas, and that invention should be accessible to everyone.[1]
In April 2010, Quirky received $6 million in Series A venture capital funding, led by RRE Ventures.[1] The company later received a $16 million Series B round in August 2011 led by Norwest Venture Partners, and most recently, a $68 million Series C round in September 2012 led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.[2]
Community
Any of Quirky’s community members can become an inventor or person of influence by submitting ideas and helping to determine which products Quirky will design, manufacture, and sell. Inventors who submit ideas that are then created and people who contribute to those ideas share in royalties based on product sales.
The company solicits ideas for new products via Quirky.com and its iPhone app. Once an idea is submitted, the Quirky community vets it, praises it, critiques it, and votes for their favorites, many of which will eventually be made by the Quirky design team and sold online and in stores.
A prospective inventor can submit an idea to Quirky, and there is no limit on the number of invention ideas that a person can submit. When determining which products to make, Quirky considers factors such as uniqueness, manufacturing complexity, and intellectual property rights, yet they are committed to working on ideas both big and small that make life better. Submitted ideas are voted on by the Quirky community, as well as by employees of the company at Eval, Quirky’s live webcast that is broadcast live at Quirky.com/live every Thursday evening at 7pm EST, where new inventors are crowned.
Reality TV
In 2011, a reality television series about life at the Quirky office, also named Quirky, debuted on the Sundance Channel.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Quirky's 23-year-old CEO finds love with the supply chain, Paul Boutin, VentureBeat, April 27, 2010
- ↑ Donna Fenn (September 7, 2012). "Quirky Gets Backing From Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins". New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
- ↑ Associated Press, "Startup Quirky brings people's ideas to life", Japan Times, 28 August 2011, p. 5.