Kickstarter has become the omnipresent fundraising channel for hard-to-sell ideas. Fruitful campaigns have noted how the site’s “shareability” amounts to advertising that no fundraiser can buy. More than 3,500 projects from Minnesota have turned to Kickstarter, and many have received a gale of support. What follows is a highlight reel of the state’s Kickstarter successes:

Smartthings

Funds pledged: $1,209,423
Backers: 5,694
Product synopsis: One of many apps in the marketplace that creates the means to take your physical home online and control almost everything—including your lights, thermostat, door locks, window blinds, coffee maker, mechanical fence and more—from your smartphone.

Hidrateme Smart Water Bottle

Funds pledged: $627,644
Backers: 8,015
Product synopsis: A reusable water bottle that tracks water intake and monitors consumption from your smartphone. It connects to your Fitbit or other wearables to give hydration benchmarks based on your size, age, location and fitness. The bottle lights up to remind you when it’s time to take another sip.

The Choosatron: Interactive Fiction Arcade Machine

Funds pledged: $75,080
Backers: 570
Product synopsis: The Choosatron takes the choose-your-own-adventure story dynamic into the 21st century. Buyers can download stories, or write their own or decide the fate of whatever fictional scenario is playing out before them. Yes, that’s a lot of money for a modern-day Mad Libs.

Jamstik+

Funds pledged: $813,803
Backers: 2,991
Product synopsis: A no-experience-needed way to learn guitar. It wirelessly connects to any Apple device and becomes instantly compatible with hundreds of music applications.

Supr Slim Wallet

Funds pledged: $203,488
Backers: 6,237
Product synopsis: Forget storing that brick of receipts and family photos that are weighing down your wallet. The Slim Wallet is an ultra-thin elastic wallet designed for minimalists. It’s large enough to sandwich some cash, credit cards, ID and several business cards, but not much else.

Trinity—The Portable Wind Turbine

Funds pledged: $75,319
Backers: 339
Product synopsis: Never has charging your smartphone or tablet outdoors been so easy! (At least according to the inventors.) This expandable, foot-long cylinder morphs into a wind turbine. As its curved blades spin, Trinity stores energy internally, enabling users to charge any USB connectable device, even from mid-Lake Superior (though not while submerged).

Swannie’s Sandals

Funds pledged: $21,909
Backers: 235
Product synopsis: After that round of 18 holes, why switch footwear when you’ve got the first-ever soft spike sandal? Because wearing hard golf spikes around town is unthinkable, and that common sandal just won’t cut it on the greens.