PowerUp Toys has gathered more than $1 million in a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter. The Israeli startup will use the raised capital to develop its smartphone-controlled toy paper plane, wrote VentureBeat.

The small firm presently has over 18,000 backers in its campaign with still more than eight days to go. Inventor Shai Goitein initially wanted to raise just $50,000 for his project. The latest version of the project, PowerUp 3.0, ranks ninth among the most-funded projects in Kickstarter's design category, the report explained.

A former pilot who wants to share the joy of flying with others, Goitein has worked on this project for six years. Using a motor and control system that his team has devised, the paper plane can fly for up to 180 feet for 10 minutes. Users can control the toy with an iPhone app. The paper plane's Lithium Polymer battery-powered circuit board weighs 1 gram, the report detailed.

Based 30 minutes outside of Tel Aviv, Israel, PowerUp Toys currently employs six workers. The company's design for iOs design is complete. However, the team still needs to test the Android version of its toy plane, VentureBeat reported.