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CustomMade is an online custom jeweler. Until 2015, The business was operated as an online marketplace, where people were able to buy custom-designed furniture, jewelry, home décor, and other personalized items by independent artisans.[1] Company raised a total of $7.65 million in venture funding.[2]
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| Company type | Online Jeweler |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Current Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Key people | Seth Rosen, Founder and CEO |
| Products | Furniture, Jewelry, Home Decor |
Number of employees | 3500[citation needed] |
| Website | custommade.com |
On May 21, 2015, the business was acquired by Wayfair (NYSE: W) for an undisclosed sum after raising $25.65MM in venture funding.[citation needed]
In May 2017, it was announced that founder Seth Rosen had re-purchased the business out of foreclosure, in partnership with Western Technology Investment (WTI), to focus on building the custom jewelry business.[3]
Company History
editBeginnings
edit
Co-founders Michael Salguero and Seth Rosen met as undergraduates at Boston University. Both had an interest in custom-made shirts, belts, and pants.[4] After working in real estate, they changed careers.[5] In January 2009, Salguero and Rosen bought the custommade.com URL for $140,000 from a woodworker who had owned and run the site since 1996.[citation needed] At the time of the purchase, the site hosted around 350 makers paying a small subscription fee to be on the site. The site was generating about $35,000 a year in subscription sales.[5]
Early versions of CustomMade.com drew visitors, but only a small number of those visitors ordered items.[6] CustomMade redesigned the site with help from Google Ventures and within a week, increased the number of paying projects by 200 percent.[6] From 2009 to 2010, the number of visitors to the site tripled to a total of 1.5 million. In 2010 CustomMade earned $350,000 in revenue.[1]
In November 2011, CustomMade raised $2.1 million in Series A funding from First Round Capital, Google Ventures, and others.[7] With the additional investment, CustomMade planned to expand its Lechmere Square headquarters by 5,000 square feet and its number of employees from 27 to over 50.[5] At the time of the announcement, CustomMade had produced over $2 million in project requests.[7]
In April 2012, CustomMade closed a $4 million funding round led by Google Ventures, with additional investments from Schooner Capital, LaunchCapital, NextView Ventures, Andrew McCollum, and First Round Capital.[8]
Business Model
editIn May 2017, CustomMade made the decision to focus exclusively on its custom jewelry design and manufacturing business.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b Athavaley, Anjali.A Little Something Different. Wall Street Journal. April 20, 2011.(subscription required)
- ^ Rao, Leena. Marketplace For Customized Goods CustomMade Raises $4 million from Google Ventures and Others. Tech Crunch. April 30, 2012.
- ^ The CustomMade Team (2017-05-23). "Re-introducing CustomMade - Your Online Home for Fine Custom Jewelry". Made by CustomMade. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
- ^ Giacobbe, Alyssa. CustomMade’s makers will build anything you can imagine. CNN. April 4, 2012.Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c CustomMade measures 600% growth revenue. Boston Business Journal. February 2, 2011.(subscription required)
- ^ a b Farrell, Michael. Google to the rescue Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine. Boston Globe. February 6, 2012.
- ^ a b Tsotsis, Alexia. Google Ventures and First Round Drop $2.1 million into Custom Marketplace CustomMade. Tech Crunch. November 17, 2011.
- ^ Hess, Shawn. Google leads CustomMade.com $4 million Funding Round. Web Pro News. April 30, 2012.
- ^ "Re-introducing CustomMade - Your Online Home for Fine Custom Jewelry". Made by CustomMade. 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2017-06-23.