Kickstarter launching in Australia and New Zealand

Crowdfunding website Kickstarter has announced that it will be launching soon for Australia- and New Zealand-based projects.

Kickstarter is finally gearing up for an official launch in Australia and New Zealand, with a new page on its website announcing that local availability will be coming "soon".

To prepare creators for the launch, the website will also be hosting Kickstarter "Schools", where Kickstarter product manager Leland Rechis will offer "a primer on how to bring a Kickstarter project to life". These will be hosted for free in Sydney on 1 September and Melbourne on 2 September.

"We'll be in Australia the next few weeks hosting Kickstarter Schools with Australia-based creators interested in Kickstarter," the website says. "If you have a project in mind and want to run it by us, or if you just want to learn more about Kickstarter, we hope you'll join us!"

Given that Australian projects have already been hosted on Kickstarter, we'd be curious to know what the local launch will mean for local creators. Obviously, it will mean projects that are available in local currency and postage pricing, but we'd also hope for a local Kickstarter team on the ground.

While we wait for more details, you can head over to the announcement page to provide Kickstarter with feedback about the type of projects you'd like to promote through the site. Heads up, indie developers!