Leading independent design company Minted has announced that it has raised $208 million in Series E funding from the Permira funds and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price. The investments were led by Permira’s co-head of technology and partner Brian Ruder and T. Rowe Price’s portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund Henry Ellenbogen.
Founded in 2007 by CEO Mariam Naficy, Minted has a goal of building a retail brand that would “stay fresh forever” by handing assortment decisions to the crowd instead of relying on merchants’ decisions. Stationery, wall art, and home decor designs are sourced through design competitions and are open to everyone. And then consumers are invited to rate the designs.
“To be an independent creative today is tough; there is little infrastructure to bring your work to the world in large-scale distribution. Few artists are lucky enough to be able to do it on their own, and the rest have to rely on a system that isn’t transparent or meritocratic, and by nature edits their work. This funding marks a major milestone for Minted and for the idea that meritocracy — and getting design in its purest form from creator to consumer — ultimately produces the best business results,” said Naficy in a statement. “We are thrilled to work with Permira and T. Rowe Price, who are experienced in omnichannel and global retail. As we enter the next phase of our company’s growth, this new financing will allow us to bring the best in independent design to people everywhere.”
With this round of funding, Minted will be expanding into new channels and reach more consumers. And the funding will be used for growing its wholesale and licensing businesses, leverage its archives of thousands of designs to help brand partners, and source data-backed design from independent artists around the world.
“Minted is a market leader when it comes to bringing both retailers and consumers high-quality design sourced from artists around the world. The funds’ investment in Minted reflects our strong belief in the company’s differentiated core assets of brand, analytics, and community and its limitless opportunity to grow into new markets,” added Ruder. “We look forward to using our global platform and consumer technology expertise to support Minted’s expansion and ongoing success.”
Minted had raised $91 million in funding prior to this round. Other investors that put capital into Minted include Ridge Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Menlo Ventures.
