Crowdtilt launching mobile app to crowdfund 'from your pocket'

SAN FRANCISCO — Crowdtilt announced today that it is releasing a mobile app onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt.

“We have built the most powerful crowdfunding platform out there,” cofounder and CEO James Beshara said. “But sometimes you don’t need power. Sometimes, you need accessibility. This is the first full-featured crowdfunding mobile app. You can actually join and create campaigns straight from your pocket.”

Y Combinator-backed Crowdtilt was founded as a place where friends could pool their money together online for a specific purpose. It focused on enabling group experiences or shared causes, like rallying hundreds of friends to throw a lavish yacht party or raising nearly $100,000 to preserve a struggling school.

Beshara studied development economies and had a bigger vision for what the engineer-heavy company could do with its skill. Crowdtilt released an API in December for developer use, but people without programming expertise expressed interest as well. Two weeks ago, Crowdtilt debuted its Crowdhoster, the “WordPress for crowdfunding.”

The open-source crowdfunding tool lets any person or organization integrate crowdfunding into their site, without using any code. People trying to raise money can easily set up campaigns and host them on their own site. They can customize and brand crowdfunding efforts, communicate with their audience, and own all the data about their funders.

The company’s ultimate vision is one of “radical inclusivity,” where anyone can crowdfund projects that are important to them. Beshara said that mobile is a key part of this vision.

Mobile devices mean people can be connected any time, anywhere, and have been instrumental in getting people all around the world, from all economic backgrounds online. Mobile and crowdfunding are both key drivers of “inclusivity,” and a mobile app makes Crowdtilt’s technology more accessible.