Campfire: The Kickstarter of Japan Launches

Campfire is a new Japanese service similar to Kickstarter, aiming to raise money to fund users’ projects.  The service was launched by Hyper Internets inc. about a week ago and there are already six projects running at this point.

Here’s how it works: Each of the projects launched on Campfire will have to set out the purpose of the project, the amount of money it aims to collect, and the period of time required to collect it.  Campfire’s users can support a project starting at 500 yen ($6.20) using Paypal. If the funds are collected in time then the project becomes official and the creator will be paid to fulfill the mission set.

So far things are looking good at Campfire, as half of the projects have already succeeded. Supporters can receive rewards if they donate a certain amount of money. One of the projects, for example, aims to travel around the world to collect all sorts of free magazines. The project will give free samples to those who donated 2,000 yen and also an invitation to an after-event to those who paid 5,000 yen.

Information is constantly updated on the project page, showing how much money the project has collected, how many days are left, the number of supporters, and who they are. Hyper Internets will take a 20% commission from every project that was successfully funded. If a project fails to collect enough funds, the money will be returned to the supporters.

Somehow Campfire has drawn me in as well. The project that I’m helping is looking to collect 300,000 yen ($3,744) and has so far collected 156,000 yen ($1,947).

The brains behind Campfire are @hbkr and @kohex. To become a supporter, simply register at the website. You can also login using your Twitter or Facebook account.