Opportunity Forecast
Introduction
The Maker movement is gaining momentum over the past few years. Currently, Makerspaces exist in over 70 countries around the world. According to Hacker Spaces, there are over 2100 hackerspaces listed. The maker economy is projected to hit $8.41 billion by 2020 with serious upside potential.
In recent years, makerspaces, for-profit or not-for-profit, caught the attention of a lot of investors as they are the birthplace of a lot of innovative creations. They allow makers to incubate and build prototypes for their businesses without having to face a a huge investment. As a result, makerspaces breed the success for a lot of entrepreneurs who can learn, share and make their ideas grow in these spaces. However, no matter that a lot of commercial makerspaces such as Techshop have seen tremendous growth over the years, not all makerspaces benefit profitably from the popularity of the maker movement. Several makerspaces including a popular makerspace in Brooklyn, 3rd Ward, closed abruptly before they reach the mature stage. It’s worth asking whether the phenomenon is the birth of a durable movement or another trendy notion about civic innovation? In this Opportunity forecast, we will assess the potential markets for commercial makerspaces specifically, the opportunities as well as the challenges they face. |