Rockzip Highballoons, the Michigan City-based company looking to bring outer space to the masses through inexpensive balloons they are creating to reach the edge of space, is now receiving national attention for their unique idea.
Live Science, a nationwide outlet which delivers science news covering top stories of the day in health, entertainment, animals, technology and space, featured Rockzip in a story about their Kickstarter program, which reached its goal of $15,000 to help jump start the business founder Austyn Crites hopes to be known as “the Henry Ford of the highballoon industry.”
With Live Science’s more than $1 million Facebook followers, science enthusiasts across the country are now aware of Rockzip’s plans, which include the potential for predicting crop yields in places like sub-Saharan Africa, inexpensively launching cargo to near-space and tracking deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
See Live Science article on Rockzip.
“This was one of our first articles published from a national standpoint,” Crites said. “Most of our Kickstarter backers came from far away, so we’d definitely like more people involved locally.”
When Rockzip’s campaign got to about $6,000 of the $15,000 goal, they became a staff pick from Kickstarter, which meant their page was seen on hundreds of other funding pages as suggestions. Needless to say, soon after their goal was met.
Shortly after that, Space.com, another nationwide publication for space lovers, picked up the same story.
“A lot of people around the world are going to want to see these balloons commercialized, so it is good to get support on a global scale,” Crites said.
Rockzip is currently looking for businesses local to Northwest Indiana to discuss possible co-promotion deals.
“If they are looking for national reach we could look at ways to work together,” Crites said. “We’re looking for anybody who wants to see students and entrepreneurs to have the ability to test new ideas in space.”