The Arrival of the Weconomy
2013 looks to be the year of sharing and participation in innovative ways of group think, group fund and group sourcing. Here are a three areas I find interesting.
1. The Sharing Economy
New companies like HipSwap (essentially an online swap meet) and Zotwheels, AirBnB or Uniiverse, are taking the world by storm — offering a new way for people to share and “profit” from their old stuff.
2. Food Sharing
It seems like mom’s advice on sharing with others isn’t going away anytime soon. Experts predict 2013 will be the year for peer-to-peer services like car-sharing and accommodation-sharing. A new trend, food-sharing, has people sharing their homemade meals with others or bringing people together in the homes of amateur chefs. Mealku in New York, for example, lets members share their homade meals with other site members.
3. Crowdfunding growth continues
- By April 2012, there were 452 crowdfunding platforms operating globally, up from 100 in 2007 (Source: Massolution/The Economist, May 2012).
- In 2009, crowdfunded platforms raised a total of USD 530 million. In 2011 that figure was USD 1.4 billion. This year, that’s on track to double to USD 2.8 billion (Source: Massolution/The Economist, May 2012).
- Between launch in 2009 and February 2012, Kickstarter had no USD 1 million projects. Now, twelve projects have raised more than USD 1 million.