Amazon to help sell crowdfund products

• Amazon.com Inc. launched a new platform on Tuesday that will help startups advertise and distribute their products directly to millions of Amazon customers, filling an important gap for entrepreneurs trying to reach a wider market of consumers.

The online retailer is partnering with more than 25 crowd-funding platforms like Indiegogo and venture capital firms to offer 200 products on the platform, which is called “Amazon Launchpad.” Amazon said it is not working with Kickstarter in “any official capacity” for its program.

Some of the products are already available on Amazon. com, but the program will be listed on Amazon’s Launchpad store. Amazon will manage inventory, fulfill orders using its own distribution network and provide customer service for a margin of the startup’s sales.

The firm will also help companies expand globally when startups are ready to ship products outside the United States. Startups will also be able to offer their gadgets to members of Amazon Prime, the retailer’s popular US$99year subscription service.

“Be fo r e Launchpad I thought we would have to go directly to consumers and begin talking to retailers, but we leapfrogged that phase,” said Jake Levine, the founder and CEO of Electric Objects, a startup based in New York that sells Internet-connected screens that can display thousands of different artworks on the wall. The startup launched a Kickstar te r campaign last July that raised nearly US$800,000.

“The fact that I can go from zero to Amazon Prime is unprecedented,” said Levine.