Shutterfly Acquires Spoonflower in Major Expansion Beyond Photo Personalization

By AIT News Desk On Aug 10, 2021

Acquisition doubles total addressable market, expanding leading personalized product platform’s reach into fast growing home decor category and securing foothold in creative marketplace

Shutterfly, a pioneer in online photo sharing and leading digital retail and manufacturing platform for personalized products, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Spoonflower, a global marketplace of custom fabric, wallpaper and home decor, in an acquisition for approximately $225 million of enterprise value subject to certain working capital and other adjustments.

“At Shutterfly, we believe that anyone can be a creator. That’s why we’re expanding the aperture of what you can discover, make and buy on our platform”

This acquisition will increase the depth and breadth of what people can create, customize and buy on the Shutterfly platform including wallpaper, fabric and home decor. And it will connect 21 million active Shutterfly users to more than 1 million designs by independent artists in the Spoonflower global marketplace.

“At Shutterfly, we believe that anyone can be a creator. That’s why we’re expanding the aperture of what you can discover, make and buy on our platform,” said Hilary Schneider, Chief Executive Officer at Shutterfly. “This strategic acquisition helps us expand our lens on creativity to include not only photo personalization but also a full range of custom designs created by independent artists. And we will break down the barriers to creating and discovering custom products, gifts and home decor items by providing expanded access to high-quality manufacturing and production at scale for individual creators and small businesses alike. We’re delighted to welcome Spoonflower to the Shutterfly family of brands.”

This move doubles the total addressable market and positions Shutterfly to help close a gap in the creative economy, a $2.25 trillion industry, by leveraging its vertically integrated production platform to deliver premium customized products for millions of makers and small businesses. Shutterfly’s strategic vertical integration of its supply chain, manufacturing and technology engine powers a diverse collection of high-quality products. Its world-class production facilities and established network of fulfillment sites provide Shutterfly with unparalleled personalization and customization capabilities at scale.

Countless custom- and customer-designed product options will soon be available with more than a million designs already available in the Spoonflower global marketplace with the ability to customize thousands of high-quality products in the Shutterfly catalog. Shutterfly customers will be able to buy custom designs or customize their own products in the Spoonflower global artist marketplace, while designers and artists will be able to sell their designs on Shutterfly or other platforms.

According to Coresight Research, makers are a fast-growing segment of the creative economy, driven by the massive increase of creative professionals using online platforms to market and sell unique designs across a variety of products.

“While the home decor marketplace enjoyed massive growth during Covid, the industry’s capacity to meet consumer demand was severely challenged, often delaying projects by months,” Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder, Coresight Research. “We don’t see that demand flagging anytime soon, and so this acquisition addresses a huge gap in the marketplace. Shutterfly’s vast manufacturing footprint helps Spoonflower scale to meet the demands of consumers, interior designers, DIYers, small businesses and artists. And Spoonflower’s ever-growing library of designs takes the idea of rapidly rolling out an expanded product line, including fabric, wallpaper and home decor, to a new level of customization and production efficiency.”

Spoonflower powers a diverse community of more than 3.3 million unique artists, creators and businesses with 4,000 new designs uploaded on average every day. Spoonflower is based in the tech hub Research Triangle Park (RTP) area in Durham, North Carolina with an international office in Berlin.

“We’re thrilled to join the Shutterfly family because we found the perfect fit for our business, products, team and community as we work together to address the growing market opportunity,” said Michael Jones, General Manager of Spoonflower. “We are excited about the opportunity to offer Shutterfly customers a wider assortment of custom-designed products like wallpaper, fabrics, linens and bedding and to connect them with Spoonflower’s community of artists, while enabling our makers to scale their business as a direct result of Shutterfly’s vast manufacturing capabilities and expertise.”

Shutterfly pioneered online photo sharing more than 20 years ago and has enabled millions of people around the world to create a wide range of personalized products. Spoonflower was founded more than 10 years ago to fill a market need for print-on-demand fabric and has grown the product offering to include wallpaper and home decor items in a global design marketplace. Spoonflower’s lead investors include Guidepost Growth Equity and Bull City Venture Partners. KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. acted as exclusive financial advisor.

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