Minted

Minted is an online marketplace of independent artists and designers. The company crowdsources art and graphic design through monthly design challenges. The public votes for the winning entries, and Minted produces the winning work as stationery, wall art, and decor.

Minted
TypePrivate
IndustryE-commerce, Crowdsourcing
Founded2007
FounderMariam Naficy
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, United States
ProductsStationery, art, home decor, digital design, apparel
Number of employees
375
Websitewww.minted.com

History

Minted was founded in April 2007 by Mariam Naficy to sell high-end lines of stationery and adopted a crowdsourcing model when it realized that designs by independent artists were outselling those of established brands.[1] Minted has raised nearly $90 million[2] from investors, including Norwest Venture Partners, Technology Crossover Ventures, Benchmark Capital led by Peter Fenton, IDG Ventures, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, and Eventbrite founders Kevin and Julia Hartz.[3][4][5]

In 2012, Minted expanded outside of its core stationery market by launching wall art prints and party decor.

In 2015, Minted launched make-on-demand home decor.

It partnered with Every Mother Counts, a maternal health nonprofit organization led by Christy Turlington Burns, in which a part of the proceeds from selling customized children's art would go to benefit the organization.[6]

Minted Local, a pop-up store in San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district, was opened in May 2016.[7] The store's “Stylist Bar” provides access to a Minted expert by appointment for help designing wedding stationery, birth announcements, holiday cards and more.

Crowdsourcing

Minted holds regular design challenges that are open to artists and designers. Thousands of independent artists participate in the challenges. More than 2,000 designs are submitted by artists to Minted every week.

Visitors to the website vote on the design submissions to help choose the winning designs that will be sold on the website. Minted's predictive voting algorithms use consumer votes to predict which of the thousands of submissions from the contest will be future bestsellers.

Winning artists are paid a cash prize and earn an ongoing commission on sales of their designs.[8]

Awards

In October 2014, Minted was named #5 on LinkedIn's 10 Bay Area startups that are most in demand by local techies.[9]

References
  1. Mcmahon, Regan (2010-11-14). "Mariam Naficy went from makeup to Minted.com". San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. Lawler, Ryan. "Crowdsourced Design Marketplace Minted Raises $38M More, Adds Fabrics And Home Decor". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  3. "Benchmark, Marissa Mayer Put $5.5M In Stationery Design And Retail Site Minted". TechCrunch.
  4. "Minted Raises $5.5 Million And Tells Us What It's Like To Have Marissa Mayer As An Investor". Business Insider.
  5. "Stationery Startup Minted Raises $41M for Larger Crowdsourced Design Push". WSJ AllThingsDigital.
  6. "Minted Expands Beyond Stationery With New Art Print Business". TechCrunch.
  7. "Minted goes local with Grant Avenue pop-up". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  8. "In 2000, 28-Year-Old Mariam Naficy Sold Her Startup For $110 Million — Will History Repeat Itself?". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2013-05-08.
  9. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/10/01/10-startups-where-everyone-wants-to-work/
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