Arrow Electronics and IndieGogo Bring Enterprise Tools to Budding Entrepreneurs

Arrow Electronics (ARW) and crowdfunding site Indiegogo are working together to bring new IT solutions to market, which could signal a wealth of new sales and services opportunities for channel partners.

Through the partnership, Arrow is providing budding entrepreneurs with access to a host of its enterprise-grade training and implementation services in an effort to market ideas for online backers. The collaboration is the result of a joint crowdfund-to-production platform from the two companies centered on IT innovation and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Arrow has pledged to add its design and production platform into Indiegogo’s crowdfunding engine, which will give entrepreneurs access to a suite of Arrow design tools, services and expert support, according to a recent announcement. The distributor will then assess and choose select campaigns to receive a badge of approval that denotes Arrow’s support on the Indiegogo site.

Arrow Chief Digital Officer Matt Anderson said the initiative denotes a new model for social funding and production in the technology and IoT space.

“Crowdfunding has never before been integrated into a fully scaled innovation platform like this that spans collaborative online design, prototype support, production and supply chain management,” said Anderson, in a statement. “The Arrow-Indiegogo collaboration will enable successfully crowdfunded companies to scale faster than ever before to bring their products to market.”

Arrow will also provide approved entrepreneurs with other benefits, including discounts on bills of material and software as well as live online support from Arrow design engineers. The distributor will then feature a select number of campaigns on its website and media network, according to the announcement.

Aside from being a crowdfunding site for everything from films to food and even religious outreach campaigns, Indiegogo has recently put more of an emphasis on showcasing technology projects. Indiegogo said the time was right for a formal collaboration with Arrow because its entrepreneurs have continued to look to Arrow for support in designing their products. The site also said its collaboration with Arrow will help it to support projects even after they have reached their desired level of funding.

The partnership is important news for channel partners because it signals a growing interest among distributors to foster the growth of innovative ideas that could potentially create new revenue opportunities in the IT sector. The collaboration is also significant because it affords Arrow with the opportunity to branch out from solely being a distributor and transitioning toward a role as a trusted advisor for up- and-coming businesses. This, in turn, could encourage other distributors to throw their support behind grassroots projects, which will ultimately create healthy competition in the channel. Finally, the support of a company like Arrow is bound to give entrepreneurs confidence that their creations can succeed in a market typically dominated by well-established industry giants.