NEW YORK, May 18 — Articore, which owns and operates popular global marketplaces Redbubble and TeePublic, has completed the acquisition of Frankly Wearing, an India-based print-on-demand creator marketplace. The deal gives one of the world’s fastest-growing creator economies access to Articore’s proven global infrastructure and scale, in a print-on-demand market valued at over US$1 billion.
Says Articore CEO Vivek Kumar, “The Frankly Wearing acquisition accelerates our technology roadmap and opens a significant new market. With Frankly Wearing’s local expertise combined with Articore’s global marketplace scale and third-party fulfilment network, we are well-positioned to capture a meaningful share of one of the world’s largest, growing markets.”
Every day, more than 10,000 new designs are uploaded to Redbubble and TeePublic by independent artists from more than 100 countries. Print-on-demand removes the biggest barrier for creators: upfront costs associated with manufacture and fulfilment. A creator with a few hundred followers can run a merchandise store just as easily as one with over five million. More than 250 million products have shipped from the Redbubble and TeePublic marketplaces, generating $3.2 billion in cumulative revenue. Together, Redbubble and TeePublic are home to more than three million creators and 75 million unique designs.
Frankly Wearing delivers consistent, high double-digit growth and is cash flow positive. The acquisition also gives Articore an immediate engineering presence in India. It is the first step towards building a Global Capability Centre intended to accelerate the company’s technology roadmap and drive down operating costs in the long term.