Kickstarter campaigns are growing in popularity, and while not everyone loves how companies are using Kickstarter to set up preorders for their products, apparently, people aren't too upset about it.

Kickstarter recently announced that a whopping $2 billion in donations have been pledged since the website was started back in 2009, with the milestone having been met on Oct. 11 this year.

Even more interesting is how long it took to reach each billion. While it took four years and 10 months to reach the first billion dollars, the second was reached in only one year and seven months. That equates to the raising of $391 per minute on average for the first billion, shifting drastically to an average of $1,182 per minute for the second billion. So, if you weren't already convinced of the steam that Kickstarter is gaining, the numbers speak for themselves.

The increase of pledges started at around the time that Kickstarter announced a relaxation of its rules of submission, which definitely could have contributed to the number of companies launching their products through the website.

A massive 9.5 million people contributed to the pledges, with one-third of these users backing more than one project at some point. Most of the 260,000 campaigns started on the website fell into the film and video category, however, it was the gaming category that was the biggest money-maker, raising $412.4 million. Next up was the technology category, which raised $360 million.

Interestingly enough, less than half of the campaigns reached their goals, with 93,555 being successfully funded.

It will certainly be interesting to see how long it takes for the next billion dollars to be raised, however, at this rate, that could be in a matter of a year or less.

Head to the Kickstarter statement for more stats about the milestone.

Via: Engadget

Photo: epSos .de | Flickr