Quirky Inc

Quirky is a developer of a crowdsourced invention platform that engages participants to collaborate in every aspect of product creation. It is a new type of socially developed product company founded with the vision of making invention accessible. Headquartered in New York City, Quirky brings game-changing products to the marketplace through interaction between its active online global community and Quirky’s expert product design staff, bringing to life ideas from their earliest stages to store shelves. Quirky was founded by Ben Kaufman, who is also the company’s CEO. Quirky is Kaufman’s third entrepreneurial venture. He previously founded Mophie and Kluster. Kaufman founded Quirky on the belief that ordinary people have extraordinary ideas, and that invention should be accessible to everyone. Any of Quirky’s community members can become an inventor or influencer by submitting ideas and helping to determine which products Quirky will design, manufacture, and sell. Inventors who submit ideas that are then created and influencers who contribute to those ideas share in royalties based on product sales. The company solicits ideas for new products via Quirky.com and its iPhone app. Once an idea is submitted, the Quirky community vets it, praises it, critiques it, and votes for their favorites, many of which will eventually be made by the Quirky design team and sold online and in stores. A prospective inventor can submit an idea to Quirky, and there is no limit on the number of invention ideas that a person can submit. When determining which products to make, Quirky considers factors such as uniqueness, manufacturing complexity, and intellectual property rights, yet they are committed to working on ideas both big and small that make life better. In 2016, the Quirky platform relaunched under new ownership.

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