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>The Creator Ci40 IoT dev kit is available exclusively from Kickstarter

Yet "Kickstarter is not a store".

I also question why a company as big as Imagination needs Kickstarter.

Three main reasons.

1) Going through resellers and distributors adds a signficant premium. By using Kickstarter, we can sell the kit at a reduced price.

2) Kickstarter enables us to communicate directly to indie developers, makers and other hackers and get their feedback on the product.

3) The funds will help us accelerate development for the open source software stack.

Other companies have used crowdfunding to launch products recently, including Canonical, Sony and - more recently - Pepsi.

How much risk are "customers" taking when they buy it through Kickstarter? If the product is never delivered, will they get their money back?

If funding is not achieved, then backers get the money back. If funding is achieved, then it is up to the company to deliver the product as promised.

There have been some cases where the companies ran out of money before they could deliver on all or any of their promises.