From 52a8d09c1ac60feefdb805763159998afa4b878c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: akdeb <deb2@illinois.edu>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:46:41 +0700
Subject: [PATCH] see how current message looks

---
 README.md | 12 +++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 61001a5..50e4c50 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 <div align="center" style="margin: 20px 0;">
+  <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elatoai/elato-make-toys-talk-with-ai-voices" target="_blank">
+    <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Kickstarter_Pre_Launch-white?style=for-the-badge&logo=kickstarter" alt="Elato Kickstarter Prelaunch" style="margin: 0 10px;">
+  </a>
 <a href="https://cookbook.openai.com/examples/voice_solutions/running_realtime_api_speech_on_esp32_arduino_edge_runtime_elatoai" target="_blank">
   <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/OpenAI-Cookbook-yellow?style=for-the-badge&logo=openai&logoColor=white&labelColor=black" alt="OpenAI" style="margin: 0 10px;">
 </a>
@@ -10,6 +13,14 @@
   </a>
 </div>
 
+## 👾 Kickstarter Pre-Launch
+
+We’re just getting started. After a year of prototyping and shipping early units, Elato is ready for its next chapter: our first Kickstarter campaign.  
+
+👉 [Kickstarter Pre-launch Page](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elatoai/elato-make-toys-talk-with-ai-voices) — click **“Notify me on launch”** to be first in line when we go live.  
+
+This is my very first Kickstarter. Honestly, it’s exciting and a little scary, but I’d love your support to help bring Elato to more people. Even one click makes a huge difference. Let’s make voice AI more accessible. 
+
 <div align="center">
 <h3>
 
@@ -18,7 +29,6 @@
 </h3>
 </div>
 
-
 <img src="assets/elato-alien.png" alt="Elato Logo" width="100%">
 
 # 🚀 ElatoAI: Realtime Speech AI Agents for ESP32