麻豆约拍

A pioneering way for individuals to donate money to one-off medical treatments in the developing world has caught the attention of Silicon Valley investors.

Watsi is a new take on the idea of crowd-funding, which involves large numbers of people contributing to a project to help it achieve a specific goal.

The non-profit website allows visitors to make personal donations for as little as $5 (拢3.20) to fund the treatment of their patient of choice but some have questioned whether it could be become a popularity contest.

The 麻豆约拍's North America Technology correspondent Richard Taylor reports.