DigiKey backs Get Made crowd-funding to help fund hardware creators

The Thief River Falls-based distributor is partnering with GroupGets to launch the initiative. This is a crowd purchasing platform for group buying technology products. It’s designed to help individuals launch their own products by promoting, funding and distributing electronic devices.

Through “Get Made”, GroupGets and DigiKey will cross promote qualifying devices through content, design, distribution and partial funding through DigiKey. Upon successful funding, GroupGets will work with the creators to manufacture the platforms and then DigiKey will list the platforms for sale on its website.

“The ‘Get MADE’ program stemmed from the longtime supply partnership between DigiKey and GroupGets and became a call to action to further support makers trying to enter the market,” said David Sandys, senior director of technical marketing at DigiKey. “By partnering together, we can bring interesting new solutions to market and fuel innovation in the hardware space.”

You can read more about the Get Made initiative at www.groupgets.com/getmade. You could think of it as an alternative to KickStarter.

“I made GroupGets to originally ‘hack minimum order quantities’ and put every maker on an equal level playing field with big technology companies,” said Ron Justin, co-founder of GroupGets. “We’ve been a DigiKey fan since we were electrical engineering students in college and are proud to be further supporting the maker community through assisting them in their funding goals, as well as with production and distribution.”

Creators can learn about eligibility requirements and apply here.

See also: DigiKey premiers Supply Chain Transformed, Season 2