Ubuntu Edge Smartphone Smashes Crowdfunding Record – Still Isn’t Enough

Ubuntu Edge Smartphone breaks $10.2m crowdfunding record with a week to go

16 August 2013 Canonical’s campaign to develop the Ubuntu Edge Smartphone has smashed the record for the largest ever amount to be sourced from crowdfunding. The long-standing record, which stood at $10,266,844 and was previously held by the Pebble Watch, was surpassed at around 4am BST this morning. There are still six days of the campaign to run.

The Ubuntu Edge Smartphone, designed to be used both as a phone and a desktop computer, also broke the record for being the fastest to raise $2m (in under eight hours) and raised its first $3m in under 24 hours. Last week also saw the Ubuntu Edge receive its first corporate backer in the shape of Bloomberg, which pledged $80,000 for its “Enterprise 115” package. The story has also been tweeted on average twice a minute every day since the appeal launched (source: Sysomos), while a Reddit IAMA Q&A session for Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu, generated over 3,200 questions.

If the appeal is fully funded, Ubuntu’s vision is to make separate mobile phones and laptops a thing of the past. The Ubuntu Edge smartphone will run Android and Ubuntu’s mobile operating system, so it can convert into a fully integrated desktop PC when connected to a keyboard and monitor.

Jane Silber, Canonical’s CEO said: “When we started this campaign three weeks ago, we hoped it would resonate with our community. So, to break the world record for a crowdfunding campaign is absolutely mind-blowing. We felt that innovation had substantially slowed down in the mobile industry, so wanted to address this. We’re still astonished by the generosity of our community and will continue to do all we can to make the Ubuntu Edge a reality.”

The Ubuntu Edge smartphone appeal is being run on Indiegogo and has a funding target of $32m to fund a single production run of 40,000 units. The handsets are only being offered to supporters pledging $695 or more. They will not be available to buy at launch.