ZAZZLE ACQUIRES GOODSTORM.COM, INNOVATOR IN ECOMMERCE MOVEMENT FOR SOCIAL CAUSES AND NON-PROFITS
ZAZZLE ACQUIRES GOODSTORM.COM, INNOVATOR IN ECOMMERCE MOVEMENT FOR SOCIAL CAUSES AND NON-PROFITS
GoodStorm Founder Yobie Benjamin Named President of new Zazzle Community, Co-Founder Andy Rappaport Named Advisor to Zazzle Board
Redwood City - January 23, 2008 - Zazzle (https://www.zazzle.com), the only on-demand, online retail platform to offer billions of products that ship in 24 hours today announced it has acquired the assets of Society Café, Inc., owner of GoodStorm.com, an innovator in the progressive eCommerce movement for social causes and non-profit organizations.
Through the acquisition, GoodStorm becomes a Zazzle community with an in-depth focus on social causes and non-profit organizations. The acquisition complements Zazzle's successful Giving Program, further strengthening the company's commitment to important issues and positions Zazzle to become the platform for charities, social causes, as well as individuals to raise money and awareness by spreading their message through the creation of unique products.
Under the terms of the deal, the GoodStorm brand will remain with its offering being integrated into Zazzle's on-demand retail platform. GoodStorm brings clients such as Amnesty International and the Craigslist Foundation to the new community. Yobie Benjamin, founder of GoodStorm becomes Senior Vice President of Business Development and President of the new Zazzle community, GoodStorm co-founder Andy Rappaport becomes an advisor to the Zazzle board. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"The GoodStorm acquisition enables Zazzle to launch a true vertical dedicated to social causes and non-profit organizations. Their relationships and client roster brings an additional value-add to Zazzle's already impressive line-up of non-profit partners including the Humane Society, March of Dimes, Save the Children, and others," said James Heckman, chief strategy officer, Zazzle. "We look forward to Yobie joining the team and building an incredibly diverse and vibrant community for users and organizations to take action and make a difference.'
"Zazzle is truly a pioneer in the on-demand retail space. Their knowledge, expertise and depth of manufacturing and software technology innovation is years ahead of the competition," said Yobie Benjamin, SVP Business Development and President, GoodStorm, a Zazzle community. "On-demand custom merchandise is a very difficult business and Zazzle's genius makes it appear effortless for sellers and customers by offering thousands of SKUs and intuitive software tools that empower the community to create and buy exciting products. Zazzle's commitment to innovation, raising awareness and supporting important issues globally was directly in line with GoodStorm and made the acquisition an exciting reality for us."
"Yobie and I are delighted to be able to capitalize on Zazzle's skills and resources to build on GoodStorm's mission of economic empowerment for social causes and non-profit organizations," said Andy Rappaport, general partner with August Capital and a noted political activist and philanthropist. "Zazzle understands the intricacies involved in scaling on-demand merchandise customization and its leading retail platform will truly empower organizations to raise awareness and money by providing their supporters superior experience and vast distribution reach."
2008-01-23
