ZAZZLE SECURES $16 MILLION IN FINANCING FOR CUSTOM CONSUMER PRODUCTS
ZAZZLE SECURES $16 MILLION IN FINANCING FOR CUSTOM CONSUMER PRODUCTS
John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and
Ram Shriram of Sherpalo Ventures Join Board of Directors
Palo Alto, CA - July 18, 2005 - Zazzle, (www.zazzle.com), the Internet's leading customized products marketplace, announced today that it has completed a $16 million series A round of equity funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers ("KPCB") and joined by Sherpalo Ventures. As part of the investment, John Doerr of KPCB and Ram Shriram of Sherpalo Ventures join Zazzle's Board of Directors. The investment will be used to expand Zazzle's just-in-time manufacturing operations, enable continued improvement of the online user experience, and grow the user community that enables Zazzle to provide innovative on-demand customized products to a growing worldwide audience.
At Zazzle, individuals, groups and businesses can celebrate and share their interests by creating, buying, and selling high quality, uniquely customized products including apparel, posters, cards, and stamps. Zazzle combines a just-in-time manufacturing process, easy to use online design tools, and the world's largest collection of customizable digital images to empower users to create on-demand products. Zazzle's vast collection of digital images come from content partners such as The Walt Disney Company and The Library of Congress, as well as leading individual artists and creative consumers worldwide. Users can create one-of-a-kind products for themselves, to send as gifts, to share with others with similar interests, as well as to sell through Zazzle's online user-created marketplace.
"We are pleased to have such an experienced and committed group of investors supporting Zazzle," said Robert Beaver, chief executive officer of Zazzle. "Their support will help us to expand our marketplace, as we drive to provide all individuals with an outlet where they can create and share products limited only by their imagination."
"Zazzle is a unique community and marketplace for self expression that combines user driven content and branded partner content to give anyone the power to make on-demand products," said John Doerr of KPCB. "Zazzle's options for customization provide a powerful e-commerce experience that allows you to create products that are as 'Zazzling' as you are."
One such content partner is The Walt Disney Company, who for the first time has made 130 of its legendary characters (3,500 images) available to the public for the purpose of creating personalized gifts and apparel. According to Patrick Haley, Manager of New Business Development for Disney Consumer Products, "Zazzle's combination of print-on-demand technology and extraordinary personalization options make it possible for consumers to bring Disney home with them in ways never before possible. Zazzle also shares Disney's commitment to producing high-quality product, while maintaining the integrity of our cherished characters."
Other Zazzle Special Collections include historical images from The Library of Congress, the California State Library, the Boston Public Library, the Linda Hall Library and The Hoover Institution. One-of-a-kind characters are also available on Zazzle from collections such as Harvey Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox's Family Guy™, Robots™, Neopets, The Pemberton & Oakes Collection, Zodiac Girlz, Build-A-Bear Workshop and more.
Zazzle is also home to hundreds of thousands of digital images from a community of sellers who are artists, photographers, designers, and creative consumers worldwide. Sellers can choose to make their creations public by setting up a Zazzle store where anyone can browse, comment and connect with others who share their interests. Sellers earn royalties every time their creations are purchased by others.
About Zazzle
Zazzle is the leading customized products marketplace for consumer enthusiasts to share and celebrate their interests by creating apparel, posters, cards, stamps and more. Zazzle combines on-demand manufacturing, a robust online community, the largest online collection of customizable digital images and unmatched personalization tools to empower consumers to create their products. In addition, individuals can choose to become sellers by sharing their unique creations in Zazzle's public stores. Within these stores, anyone can browse, comment and connect with others who share their interests. Sellers also earn royalties every time their creations are purchased by others. For anyone who wishes to create, wear, display, sell or celebrate their interests, Zazzle provides a compelling interactive marketplace to a worldwide audience. For more information, please visit www.zazzle.com.
About Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Since its founding in 1972, KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in 450 ventures, including AOL, Align, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Genprobe, Google, Hybritech, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Lotus, Nuvasive, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. KPCB portfolio companies employ more than 250,000 people. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions. Additional information about KPCB is available at: http://www.kpcb.com.
About Sherpalo Ventures
Ram Shriram started Sherpalo in January, 2000, with the goal of applying his wealth of operating and company building experience to promising early stage ventures. As a technology industry insider for over 25 years he has worked in companies large and small across all functional areas and through fluctuating business cycles. He is always eager to roll up his sleeves and work closely with founding teams on the challenging issues that confront and sometimes confound early stage ventures. Sherpalo's mission is to guide and mentor exceptional entrepreneurs in taking their disruptive ideas and technology and turning them into successful businesses. More information on Sherpalo Ventures is available at: http://www.sherpalo.com.
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18/07/2005
