2 weeks ago
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Two veteran European companies in the world of on-demand printing are merging, and you may have not even realised they were separate companies to begin with. Printful and Printify, both startups with Latvian roots providing custom printing services, are coming together as a single company.
They are framing the move as a natural fit to unlock greater economies of scale, efficiencies and profitability. But reading between the lines, it also underscores the struggles that startups in the on-demand manufacturing space, and the creator economy, are facing as single companies. Funding for later-stage startups has been especially challenging in Europe over the last several years, and it looks like 2025 will be no exception. While category growth looks to have slowed vs earlier years: the two companies said they currently reach “hundreds of thousands” of customers.
Mergers typically aim to drive efficiencies through headcount reduction. Asked about layoffs, a spokesman for the pair said: “There will be some areas of overlap between the two companies and some changes to teams will take place. The company leadership will ensure that this process is clear, transparent and efficient.”
While the two existing brands will be maintained for the “foreseeable future”, per a press release, a new company name is planned — but is being kept under wraps for now. There will also be a new management team put in place, though both CEOs are slated to stay on. Also on the cards: new products — or “increasingly tailored and innovative solutions”, as their PR puts it.
Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
The merged company said it plans to expand into more markets, serving everything from solo-entrepreneurs up to Fortune 500 companies wanting to be able to offer their own brand merch.
In terms of metrics, the companies are not providing like-for-like numbers. Printful says its business fulfils “more than a million” items a month, while Printify reports generating over 60 million orders since being founded almost a decade ago. Three years ago, Printify reported shipping a million units a month, although it’s not clear what its growth has looked like since then, so make of that what you will.
Printful was founded back in 2013 and has taken in $130 million in private equity funding, according to CrunchBase. Printify has raised a total of just over $54 million since being founded back in 2015. Investors include Index Ventures.
Commenting on the merger in a statement, Alex Saltonstall, Printful’s CEO, dubbed the development an “exciting moment for everyone”. Saltonstall has been in the job just over two years, following management changes after the original co-founder stepped back and took on an advisor role in summer 2022.
“Printify is a business that we have long respected and I believe that there is a natural fit between the two companies,” he said. “I’m excited to see our two great technology companies combine strengths and provide our customers with ever improving opportunities to fulfill their business goals.”
Printify’s CEO Anastasija Oleinika is even more relatively recently in post: she went from CFO to the top job in April 2023, when the founder moved to an exec chairman role. “Our combined company will give our merchants more,” she said in her statement. “More top-quality products, more places to sell, more innovative solutions, and more growth and profit.”
Consolidation can also be a strategy to drive up prices by reducing consumer choice — a tactic that private equity has been known to deploy — so it will be interesting to see whether claims of greater product choice translate into fewer and higher prices for the pair’s users in future, or see them ‘innovating’ to expand value for their customers, too.
The merger has already passed regulatory review, according to the companies, as well as receiving “overwhelming support” from both their shareholders. So it’s full steam ahead for Printfulify — or whatever the combined entity will be called.
