Custom Ink (PPAI 594384, D1), a distributor of custom apparel and accessories headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, has acquired Denver, Colorado, distributor Printfection (PPAI 331556, D2). Printfection’s enterprise management platform is used by major companies to create, store, manage, track and distribute their custom swag and gifts. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Vista Point Advisors acted as the exclusive advisor to Printfection.
“Like Swag.com, which joined us in November, Printfection is a pioneer in swag management, and we believe they’ve built the leading platform for enterprise customers,” says Marc Katz, co-founder and CEO of Custom Ink. “In bringing together Printfection’s powerful enterprise solution with Swag.com’s awesome self-service model and Custom Ink’s own robust platform and scale, we’ve assembled a pretty incredible combination of talent, technology, and capabilities to meet the end-to-end swag needs of companies and organizations.”
Printfection was founded by Casey Schorr and Kevin Materi in 2004 while they were students at the University of Denver. In 2014, the company pivoted from custom online apparel to a subscription model that provided ongoing product management services to its customers. Since then, it has continued to build new functionality into the platform, including real-time inventory management, on-demand global distribution, gift kitting, marketing giveaways, customer rewards, team member gear and incentives for qualified leads.
Printfection will continue to operate as a largely independent unit, led by its founders, while the companies work together to make the platform available to Custom Ink’s existing enterprise customers and flesh out longer-term integration plans.
“Custom Ink, Swag.com and Printfection share common DNA around custom products, customer focus and community,“ says Schorr. “We all believe custom apparel and other branded products can bring people together, elevate events and strengthen communities; and this combination will elevate our ability to serve our existing and future customers with expanded resources, tools, and support.”
Materi adds, “This combination will help us deliver on our core mission to elevate the swag experience for our customers and their communities, while allowing our customers to execute their swag initiatives with greater speed, quality and support. Enterprise customers need a trusted partner and turnkey solution that integrates with their existing apps, like Marketo, to manage their swag from concept to distribution. We’re bringing together the best in the business to serve those needs and automate the entire process.”
