IPrint

About IPrint

iPrint.com emerged as an early player in the e-commerce landscape, founded in May 1996 by Royal Farros, Dave Hodson, Mike Rubin, and Letty Swank. The company launched its website on December 27, 1996, becoming one of the first online retailers for printed products. It originated from The Enterprise Network (TEN) startup incubator at the NASA Ames Research Center. The business provided an online platform for customizable printing products, catering to a wide range of business needs. Its product catalog included items such as business cards, stationery, address labels, promotional items, and signs.

iPrint's key technological offering was one of the web's first WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) design engines, allowing users to create and visualize their custom products directly on the website. The business model focused on serving both individual consumers and corporate clients, with a significant portion of its revenue, nearly 70% at one point, derived from providing technology and print services to major corporations like 3M and Microsoft. The company's strategy evolved to include a focus on the enterprise e-procurement market, aiming to streamline corporate print production.

The company's journey included several key financial and structural milestones. It secured venture capital financing, with the first round led by Leapfrog Ventures and a second round by Canaan Ventures and Intel Ventures in March 1998. iPrint went public with an IPO on the NASDAQ under the symbol IPRT in March 2000. In 2001, iPrint merged with promotional products firm Wood Associates. Following its delisting from NASDAQ in 2002, the company was ultimately acquired by Harland Clarke in 2009.