Jean-Luc Vallejo, ISKN* (iSketchnotemaker): “Crowdfunding put us six to twelve months ahead of schedule.”

You raised $346,000, nearly ten times your original goal. Did that surprise you?
It did! We set out to raise $35,000, hoping to maybe reach $100,000. But interest in the project was clear virtually from the beginning. We reached our goal of $35,000 in the first fourteen hours of the month-long campaign!
Looking back, I feel that we could have raised even more, like $500,000, if we had opened an office in the US, where 30% of the funds raised came from.

What do you attribute this phenomenal success to?
The PC peripherals market took off in the 90s, with things like mice, scanners, and disk drives. We are going to see the same thing happen with tablet peripherals. And with iSketchnote we are ready to ride the wave with an accessory for the undisputed market leader—the iPad.
Because iSketchnote brings handwriting to the iPad, we feel that students, graphic artists, designers, and, generally, anyone who loves to write will be won over.

What will the influx of funds change for ISKN?
Financially, nothing. Most of the funds we raised will be used to finance the manufacture of the 2,500 products ordered by our investors. These products should be delivered in May 2014. One thing that did change was the interest we got from manufacturers and venture capitalists—business development talks with them are underway!
Raising capital through crowdfunding put us a solid six to twelve months ahead of our business plan, crucial on a market where time is of the essence.

Contact: jean-luc.vallejo@cea.fr

*The company is in the early start-up phase, and is 12 months ahead of schedule.

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