Crowdfunded

See also: fan funding

Besides the developer setting up their own funding drive to cover all or part of the costs, there are various third party services that make the process simpler, such as Kickstarter, Indie GoGo, and others.

Note that unlike fan funding, this can allow actual investors to be involved as part of the same process (pay over certain threshold and you'll get investor benefits such as part of the sales). Also unlike fan funding, the funders do not by default get a copy of the product as if they had pre-purchased it, though developers may provide that option as well.