We reported last month that Seattle-based ImageKind, where artists can upload their work and sell custom framed prints to others, was in acquisition discussions with Amazon. ImageKind competes with Art.com’s new Sistino project – rumor had it that Art.com was also looking at the company late last year for a possible acquisition.
At the time of our post, ImageKind President Kevin Saliba said all discussions were around a financing, not an acquisition (and he only confirmed that he was talking to “large online retailers” and wouldn’t confirm the Amazon discussions specifically). From what we are hearing, the company has closed that round of financing, but Amazon was noticeably absent from the list of investors.
The round was a total of $2.6 million, and included investments from Holtzbrinck Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Erik Blachford (former CEO of Expedia), Tom Hughes, the Samwer Brothers, Nick Hanuaer, and Bill Trimarko.
There are also rumors that ImageKind has closed a deal with a large search portal, and that the partner required ImageKind to do a round of financing to prove itself financially viable over the near term.
Kelly Smith is the CEO and founder. Kevin is the President and manages operations.
it’s amazing how smaller companies just keep getting eaten up by the larger but good luck in surviving as a small entity these days. Best of luck with it all. bec-www.audiobookgiftshop.com
Wow, that actually looks like a really good site. I’ve always purchased art from eBay (I know, real professional), but have the worst time trying to find anything (browsing 100,000+ pieces of artwork is mind-numbing). Next time I’ll have to chck out ImageKind.
Just wondering who this ‘large search portal’ is.
imagkind is a great concept! looks like seattle is the area pushing out winners.
I knew it
These guys have a sweet deal that is yet to be announced. Very cool up and coming company (and no I don’t work there but I wish I did!).
I recently made the switch to them to sell my photography through my site. They’ve got an excellent setup and the most extensive product customization (wrt paper selection and custom framing) that I’ve seen in the space.
Will be interesting to see what’s next for them.
http://www.lfst...om/photography/
Great news — good to see a small team with a great concept, and solid execution get the funds they need to continue providing an innovative and compelling service. Kelly Smith and the Imagekind team are going to win because of their thoughtful and creative ideas. Way to go.
As I report today, Amazon.com is an investor in ImageKind’s latest funding round. Also, CEO Kelly Smith tells me that they are completing about 20 to 30 orders per day and attracting about 50,000 daily page views.
http://blog.sea...ives/112004.asp
John Cook
Seattle P-I
John, Interesting. My source says no Amazon, but I’ll update since you spoke to the CEO. My source also says that the company went pretty far with the acquisition talks with Amazon and Art.com, something the company previously denied to me.
Actually, I may have confused John inadvertently
Myself and my fund (curiousoffice.com) DID invest alongside Amazon in Seattle-based Shelfari which John also just wrote about tonight. Maybe that was what he meant to say…
However, Amazon didn’t participate in the Imagekind round in spite of the rumors which I’m just not allowed to comment on.
Kelly Smith
Imagekind founder & ceo
Imagekind is a very satisfying and rewarding place both for customers and artists, and that’s why there’s so much enthusiasm for them. Their customer service is unparalleled, and they go the extra mile for their artists, too.
Once again Kelly’s quick comment shows just how responsive imagekind is to their clients as well as their interested fans. Kevin and his team are active participants at Sarah Schoenfeld’s Online Visual Artists Forum helping with both general marketing and technical issues. I am quite pleased to find an organization that strives to bring back to fine art of print making using digital technology. Kudos to Kelly and his team!
As Kelly Smith points out above, Amazon.com is not an investor. There must have been confusion during my interview with him on Friday and I apologize for reporting that here.
Anyway, I am going to go back to my tape recorded interview to see why I was under that impression. Again, sorry for the confusion.
John Cook
Seattle P-I
Looks like a pretty cool and useful site.
Cool info., looks like startups are gaining momentum and doing well.
http://www.tekn...ld.blogspot.com
hi guys!
Take me free!
maruyasu-grape@world.odn.ne.jp