When crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo began taking off, some thought they would make venture capitalists obsolete. That has not been the case so far. And crowdfunding sites have actually served as an opportunity for professional investors to easily find new startups to fund.

A report released last week by research firm CB Insights found that about 9 percent of the 443 hardware projects that have reached the $100,000 threshold on crowdfunding platforms have also raised venture capital.