Kickstarter partners with Google on Next Wave Fund: $10K non-dilutive grants for early-stage tech founders, up 52% YoY

Everette Taylor took over as Kickstarter CEO in September 2022, inheriting a platform that was down 20% year over year. The company has since reversed that slide. This year, Kickstarter is already up 52% year over year, following what Taylor calls a record-breaking 2024.

“We announced the Next Wave Fund with Google to power the next generation of tech innovation... people will get $10,000 upfront non-dilutive capital from Kickstarter and Google to launch their products and their companies on Kickstarter... This year we're already up 52% year over year over last year.”

Next Wave Fund

The headline news is a partnership with Google called the Next Wave Fund, which offers $10,000 in non-dilutive upfront capital to early-stage tech and gaming startups. The program targets hardware, software, gaming, and connected technology companies with fewer than 20 full-time employees. It is US-only, with at least one team member required to be a US citizen aged 18 or over.

Beyond the grant, recipients get access to Google accelerators and Kickstarter's established audience of millions, which Taylor frames as the path to first customers. Kickstarter takes no equity. The pitch is that early-stage founders get funding, distribution, and institutional support without giving anything up.

AI and the creator community

Gaming is where AI sits most uneasily on the platform. Kickstarter's gaming community is artist-forward, and Taylor says it has generated the most vocal pushback against AI-generated content. To manage this, Kickstarter introduced its own AI disclosure policy, requiring creators to state upfront how they are using AI and credit any artists whose work is incorporated. Taylor claims this made Kickstarter one of the first major tech companies to implement a formal AI policy.

On the hardware and technology side, the reception is the opposite. AI-powered tech products are growing, and Taylor sees no comparable resistance there.

Broader direction

Taylor is positioning Kickstarter as a creator economy company rather than a crowdfunding platform. The Next Wave Fund is the clearest expression of that shift: rather than passively hosting campaigns, Kickstarter is now co-funding the companies that launch on it, with Google capital behind the program.