Facing decreasing access to capital, life science companies and researchers are turning to popular crowdfunding sites to reach out to lay audiences to promote their ideas in hopes of generating financial support. Experts say that crowdfunding for biotech projects, including diagnostics, remains in the early stages, and while some projects’ successes at raising funds are encouraging, it remains too soon to measure the ultimate viability and success of the platform for furthering the diagnostics industry. There are several varieties of crowdfunding. Some, especially for mainstream technology ideas, include product giveaways in which backers are rewarded with early versions of the product. Life science projects are usually backed by philanthropic supporters. In this case there is no tangible product reward, just knowing that they contributed to research they care about. Finally, there are emerging equity-backed platforms, which are awaiting final rules from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “The spirit of crowdfunding is to break down barriers and open the curtains—to let the public take some ownership [of funding] previously reserved for the elite few,” says Fazila Seker, Ph.D., director, technology and venture development, MaRS Innovation (Toronto), who herself was involved with an ultrasound-based breast cancer monitoring technology that raised […]