For what it's worth, zero kickstarted projects for MFi controllers have ever contacted me.

You'd think if you were running a kickstarter, you'd want to contact people in the media who cover the thing you're trying to build. Not doing so is stupid - it suggests to me that the people running the kickstarter have no idea what they're doing.

The last thing I'd want to do is trust such a project with money in the hopes they can make a controller - they can't even make a kickstarter correctly.

The other elephant in the room: you cannot get MFi certification in advance. Apple can send back your design any number of times, it's impossible to gauge how much money you'll need to spend to get your controller built. Just ask Bladepad...