Kit, a US-based creative merchandise platform developer backed by Stanford University’s StartX accelerator, has been acquired by creative donation platform Patreon for an undisclosed sum, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
Founded in 2015, Kit is developing a merchandise logistics platform that helps creatives such as artists and musicians put together packages of goods to send their supporters.
The platform started out as a product recommendation engine that let social media and celebrity personalities earn affiliate marketing fees by picking out products for their fans.
Kit is expected to complement Patreon’s own service, which facilitates online donations to artists and creative media publishers in exchange for a 5% cut of each payment. The platform could, for instance, allow fans to receive physical merchandise for taking up premium-tier sponsorships of the artist.
Patreon will retain 90% of Kit’s New York-based development team, which is primarily made up of product and engineering specialists. It plans to eventually form a new merchandising platform that will enable the design of physical goods based on the client’s ideas or branding.
StartX backed Kit’s $2.5m seed round in 2016, investing together with startup builder Expa, impact investment company Social Capital, Stanford alumni-backed Black Angel Tech Fund, VC firms Precursor Ventures and Authentic Ventures, and angel investors including Ellen Pao and April Underwood, according to TechCrunch.
Wyatt Jenkins, vice-president of product at Patreon, told Techcrunch: “We want creators to make a living. That is not a side hustle.
“You have to make more money year over year, you have to be able to do things like buy a house or get healthcare. That kind of led us down the merchandise path. Creators were begging for merchandise.”
