Crowdfunding platforms such as Indigogo are always great ways for small businesses to get started in their industry, by not only raising profits for products, but gaining a following, and ultimately, a customer base.
However, sometimes these websites can play host to a number of controversial campaigns. The latest one to catch my eye is the Indiegogo campaign set up by Robert Young Pelton, a Canadian man who wants to raise $450,000 on his mission to hunt down Joseph Kony, the infamous warlord in central Africa that became a most-wanted figure across social media websites thanks to the Kony campaign set up by Invisible Children.
In a suspected dig at Invisible Children’s 2012 campaign, Pelton wrote on the Indiegogo summary: "There are no bracelets, no posters, no videos of cute children, just a group of committed individuals with professional support that want to locate Kony and turn him in."
Director of the think tank Africa Center at the Atlantic Council commented on the crowdfunding campaign: "One really does not know whether this scheme merits ridicule or reproach. The notion of asking the public to contribute to sending a self-promoting adventurer and two filmmakers off to find an elusive warlord, whom the militaries of several African countries assisted by US Special Operations Forces have not managed to catch, is risible, to say the least."
It seems his plan may have to be put on the backburner for now, as he has only raised just less than $8,000 for his $450,000 goal, with only 45 days left.
The website’s slogan is "Fund what matters to you". We can’t be sure, but we don’t think that the creators of Indiegogo ever thought that their website would help fund a man on a hunt for an African warlord. The guy has definitely got big goals, it’s just a shame he hasn’t got the financial backing too.
