User:Becky.wise61/sandbox

Lovepop is a company founded in Boston, Massachusetts that combines engineering and imagination to create intricate 3D popup paper art greeting cards.

History

Lovepop was founded by Wombi Rose and John Wise and launched out of the Harvard Innovation Lab in 2014. Rose and Wise met at Webb Institute training to become naval architects. (1) While attending Harvard Business School, they traveled to Vietnam where they discovered incredible hand-crafted paper cards. (2)

In 2014 Rose and Wise began applying their engineering background to this art form and developed a new style of paper art called Slicegami. (3)

In 2015 Lovepop appeared on the holiday episode of “Shark Tank” during which sharks Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O’Leary) and Robert Herjavec both bid for a chance to invest. Kevin O’Leary won, and became Lovepop’s shark.(4)

To date, Lovepop has landed over $9 million in funding over six rounds (5) from investors including Ryan Moore, founder and partner at Cambridge venture capital firm Accomplice and Kevin O’Leary. Other investors included Wayfair CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah, Crashlytics founder and Twitter exec Wayne Chang and Bain Capital's Bob White. (6)

Description

With over 200 original designs, Lovepop’s unique combination of engineering and imagination result in cards that have a special meaning for both gifter and recipient.

Lovepop does not print messages on cards because they believe a personal note is the most important part of sending a card.

Lovepop.com is the main marketplace for cards, but the company also operates Lovepop kiosks in train stations and retail areas in Boston and New York City. (7)

Headquartered in Boston’s Faneuil Hall and Vietnam, Lovepop’s offices house over 30 employees with more than double that in their facility in Vietnam. (8)

Their rapid growth and success has some calling them a disruptor in the greeting card business. (9)

Accolades

Lovepop is one of Built in Boston’s ’50 Startups to Watch’ (2017)

http://www.builtinboston.com/2017/01/30/50-boston-startups-watch-2017

Co-founder John Wise was named to the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Art & Style category

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2017/01/03/from-candice-galek-to-skyler-grey-to-bethany-mota-30-under-30-in-art-and-style/#42e9e56be669

Lovepop was named to BostInno’s “50 on Fire” (2016)

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/all-series/bostinno-50-on-fire-winners-2016/

Lovepop was named one of Boston’s Best Small Businesses (2016)

http://bostonchamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/08.01.16-Chamber-Announces-Small-Business-of-the-Year-Awards.pdf

Lovepop was selected to the Tech Stars class of summer 2015

http://venturefizz.com/blog/boston-startups-reveal-it-all-techstars-demo-day

References

(1)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/12/18/pop-card-creators-earning-attention/sxfB9FlGxlDWMtqytdJz1L/story.html

(2)

http://www.cnn.com/videos/living/2016/12/20/companies-on-the-move-lovepop.cnn

(3)

http://www.forbes.com/profile/john-wise/

(4)

http://www.success.com/article/how-lovepop-survived-the-shark-tank

(5)

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/techflash/2016/11/wayfair-bain-andtwitter-execs-help-fund-boston.html

(6)

http://www.builtinboston.com/2016/12/15/story-behind-boston-startup-lovepop

(7)

http://www.hbs.edu/news/articles/Pages/lovepop-2016.aspx

(8)

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/11/29/shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-invests-in-lovepops-6m-series-a/

(9)

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/the-unusual-startup-looking-to-disrupt-the-7-billion-greeting-cards-industry.html

External links

Lovepop.com