Investment turns ideas into reality

Strangers fund projects from technology to music - and more

From personal art projects to technology-heavy entrepreneurial ventures, the appeal of crowdfunding is widespread. People who have used this platform to turn ideas into tangible projects say they were surprised by the response of total strangers from around the world.

One of them is Jason Gui, the 23-year-old cofounder and chief technology officer at Vigo. Gui is using crowdfunding to take his product - imagined while he was a university student in the United States - to a manufacturing facility in China and, using capital raised online from around the globe, is looking to reach out to people.