Arrow to secure makers’ supply chain on Indiegogo… and more
With an original crowdfund-to-production service jointly launched with crowd-funding portal Indiegogo, Arrow Electronics aims to certify the manufacturability and supply chain completeness of startups’ new designs. But that’s not all.
Entrepreneurs can apply for Arrow certification on the Indiegogo platform and the electronic components distributor will have its engineers analyze the design and the manufacturability of each application. Projects deemed “ready for manufacturing” will be denoted with official “Arrow Certified” badges on their Indiegogo campaign site to let potential backers know the project is ready for production.
“Arrow Certified” campaigns on Indiegogo will lock-in up to $50,000 in benefits that help entrepreneurs succeed in prototyping and manufacturing their innovative products, claims the distributor.
These benefits include direct, online access to the prototyping tools available through Arrow.com and Silicon Expert, comprehensive technical reviews of the raw materials, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components, parts and the quantities of each needed to manufacture a product, professional design-for-manufacturing product reviews and certification, and up to $1,000 in materials for prototype development.
The distributor will also give free access to its Arrow Testdrive program to try out the latest innovations from leading semiconductor manufacturers with no up-front investment. In some instances, it will offer customized marketing and promotional support on its website and through its extensive technology-focused media network.
Remember that last summer, Arrow bought EE Times and EDN in North America and Asia, Embedded.com and TechOnline.
Through this certification program, it may offer 10 percent off and free shipping on millions of products available on its catalogue to help accelerate prototyping and bring innovations to market.
Would the company leverage this crowdfund-to-production service to take an early stake into startups it would consider “bankable”, at an early stage of their indiegogo campaign?
Or will it just be happy to secure its position in these companies’ supply chains, merely asking startups who sign up for all these “free services” to source most if not all their parts through Arrow for a given production period?
“The goal of the initiative is not to invest in these companies. In general we cannot fully exclude that a company on Indiegogo becomes a potential company to be acquired later on but this is not our intention with this cooperation. The campaigns will receive components and services benefits as well as consultancy that could have a positive impact on the financial risks and time-to-market, but without any “ulterior motive”. We do not lay claim on the company`s intellectual property and this is included in the terms and conditions“, Arrow wrote eeNews Europe.
“We want to do business with these companies. We hope for customer loyalty towards Arrow when their business will be evolving. One of the barriers entrepreneurs are facing once they successfully managed their first steps is to cope with the complex implications of the supply chain. Arrow is well positioned to address these requirements“.
“Companies that go through analysis and review aren’t obligated to use Arrow. We think they will want to because of the great experience. Companies that get high degrees of certification will commit to utilize Arrow in some degree to ensure that the value of certification is protected. When we certify a campaign it means we can ensure something can be made, and so we want to make sure the community knows that a certification badge is a sign that the campaign and Arrow are committed to bringing the product to market together if it is successfully funded. Once a company has been certified, however, the benefits of the program such as $10,000 for prototype development will be accessed through arrow.com” clarified the distributor.
So, will Arrow dedicate additional staff for this program or will it be integrated into the company’s new customers acquisition routine?
“We have a dedicated team of global engineers that will review every opted-in campaign from Indiegogo. This is just one of our ongoing efforts to increase Arrow’s ability to serve customers online. As an example, many of our expert engineers are available online through our video chat at arrow.com. We have a team of global engineers equipped to support our customers’ needs regardless of where they are in the process” the company answered.
In its press release, the company says that a handful of “Arrow Certified” campaigns deemed truly technologically exceptional by its own standards will qualify as “Arrow Innovator” campaigns, receiving even more support.
The lucky Arrow Innovators could grab supply chain services and contract manufacturing support worth up to $500,000, up to $10,000 in materials for prototype development and a dedicated local Arrow technical concierge available for on-call or on-site support.
The distributor will even offer Perk protection to guarantee that campaign backers get their money back if for some reason the product is never manufactured. And last but not least, Arrow’s in-house financing team will offer these happy few startups a fast-tracked financial review to help fund the cost of getting production up and running.
And what does Indiegogo get in return in this partnership? We asked.
“With this cooperation, Indiegogo is getting support from one of the world`s largest tech companies. We think our engineering capacities and our value proposition provides a tremendous opportunity to Indiegogo to build trust in addition to their existing services. It is a win-win situation for two global players, and we think the integration of arrow.com services into such a crowdfunding platform is quite unique. In addition Arrow is promoting the platform through its marketing channels, which helps Indiegogo to create more awareness and to increase its reach into the tech world. Given Arrow`s global presence and awareness, the cooperation can help Indiegogo to compete worldwide in regions potentially not tapped so far.” Arrow responded.
Try your luck as an innovator at www.arrow.com/indiegogo
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