Latvia’s Printify raises $45 million in Index Ventures led round

Latvian print-on-demand service Printify has secured $45 million in an Index Ventures-led Series A round. The startup is one of the key drivers behind the ever-expanding creator economy; requiring little to no risk and zero upfront investment. Printify will use the new capital to further expand its global marketplace presence.

Apparently, there’s something about Latvia and custom printing. Earlier this year, Printful became Latvia’s first unicorn, and it would appear that if Printify keeps it up, they might be well on their way to becoming Latvia’s second. In addition to Index Ventures, backing also arrived from strong industry brands including H&M Group and Virgin Group, and angel investments from the founders of Transferwise, Vinted, Squarespace, and RedHat. And just to add a touch of icing to the cake, Will Smith’s Dreamers VC also joined the round.

Founded in 2015 by Artis Kehris, Gatis Dukurs, and James Berdigans, Printify operates on a simple, yet effective business model. With a massive catalogue of customisable items to choose from, creators’ creations are only ever produced once a sale has been completed. From here, the order is sent to the geographically closest print production partner in Printify’s network and drop-shipped directly to the customer.

Ultimately, this means that creators have zero upfront costs with little to no risk involved. If the market loves your product, you’re on your way to an early retirement. If the market could care less about your product, you’ve lost nothing more than a few hours of your time. Win/Win.

Not surprisingly, Printify’s largest market resides in the US where they now serve over 2 million registered creators.

“Our vision is to transform e-commerce from mass manufacturing to on-demand production, eliminating excess stock and reducing environmental waste,” commented CEO James Berdigans. “Last year brought significant changes to the industry, as customers increasingly chose to shop online, while more and more merchants were looking for opportunities to earn additional income.”