Chinese firms using crowdfunding sites to crack US market

Hong Kong

ONLINE crowdfunding sites have been the place to raise money to research the theory of everything or back a San Francisco startup. Now, Chinese tech companies are using them to crack the US market.

Yet these aren't exactly struggling startups. Take, for example, XGimi Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of miniature, home-theatre projectors that are Internet-enabled. The company, based in the western China city of Chengdu, raised more than US$300,000 this year for a new LED projector on the crowdfunding website IndieGoGo Inc. All while getting glowing coverage from tech blogs.