Kickstarter kindly allows Brits to channel 95% of their money through it

Crowdfunding website Kickstarter started taking money for UK projects today - along with a five per cent slice of the action for itself.

The site, which lets users pledge money for products, movies, albums and other projects that can't or don't want to get bank funding, has been running just in the US until now. In return for their money, users typically get the product or a copy of the film, book or song - or are perhaps allowed to participate in the project, e.g. as extras in a movie.

So far, the site has raised around $343m (£211m) of funding for over 31,000 projects, which would give the firm revenue of just over $17m (£10.5m).

Kickstarter has also had over 40,000 unsuccessfully funded projects that raised $42m. If projects don't reach their funding target, the money goes back to the folks who offered it and the site doesn't get a fee.

Projects from Brit hopefuls have been loading onto the site since October 10, giving them three weeks to get their financial pleas to the site. UK projects will be listed in sterling, but users from outside Blighty can still pledge cash to them.

There are 199 projects currently listed from Britain, with London making up nearly two thirds, while Edinburgh is second with 18 per cent of the funding requests. ®