As others have pointed out they are selling something. Nothing indicates that you can get the "thing" simply by sending an entry to the address and there is no obligation to buy anything. As happens with contests that don't want to appear to be a lottery. In other words you can't have someone pay for a chance to win something (in many legal jurisdictions particularly in the US not sure about anywhere else). But you can have people both buy things and enter with a very clear "no obligation to buy" as we have all seen (once again in the US).
So it is very clear and obvious that in exchange for paying money you are expecting to receive something in return.
Now of course they could probably work around this with the proper wording somewhere.
"We hope to produce this lightbulb. There is no guarantee we will succeed. Here is a complete list of our qualifications. Be aware that if we fail to deliver you will loose your money. Here is our record with other projects. Etc."
In that case the "game" becomes a little different and it is apparent and visible that you stand to loose just like paying to enter a marathon you pay money and are not guaranteed to win. (Not a great example but anyway..)
As others have pointed out they are selling something. Nothing indicates that you can get the "thing" simply by sending an entry to the address and there is no obligation to buy anything. As happens with contests that don't want to appear to be a lottery. In other words you can't have someone pay for a chance to win something (in many legal jurisdictions particularly in the US not sure about anywhere else). But you can have people both buy things and enter with a very clear "no obligation to buy" as we have all seen (once again in the US).
So it is very clear and obvious that in exchange for paying money you are expecting to receive something in return.
Now of course they could probably work around this with the proper wording somewhere.
"We hope to produce this lightbulb. There is no guarantee we will succeed. Here is a complete list of our qualifications. Be aware that if we fail to deliver you will loose your money. Here is our record with other projects. Etc."
In that case the "game" becomes a little different and it is apparent and visible that you stand to loose just like paying to enter a marathon you pay money and are not guaranteed to win. (Not a great example but anyway..)