Indonesia’s Printerous makes it easy for designers to print and sell goods; raises money

Kevin Osmond, Co-founder and CEO of Printerous

Printerous is a marketplace that connects people — individuals like artists, or brands and communities — to printing vendors around Indonesia. Earlier today, the Jakarta-based startup announced it has raised angel funding from a group of investors, including Steve Christian, CEO of Indonesia’s biggest online media firm KapanLagi Network (KLN); multiple siblings of the Tahir family, which owns and operates Indonesia’s Mayapada Group; and RMKB Ventures.

Often it’s tough to find a printer that does custom jobs for every occasion. With a pool of custom printing outlets nationwide, Printerous lets users get designs on things like pillows, mugs, T-shirts, bags, and more. The startup has been around since 2012. Kevin Osmond joined the firm as co-founder and CEO in October 2014, but prior to that he claims Printerous spent two years bootstrapping in an effort to validate the market for such a service.

A CEO who’s been around the block

“A couple of years ago, I noticed the absence of an effective printing platform in Indonesia,” says Kevin. “The whole printing process was bland, manual, and not scalable. So I decided to learn from successful business models abroad to see how I could combine technology, […] design, and local business partnerships.”

Kevin has been involved in several tech ventures in Indonesia. Prior to joining Printerous, he was known as one of the co-founders of travel booking site Tiket, a shareholder at women’s media portal Fimela, and a former parter at Magnivate, which later became XM Gravity, Indonesia’s largest digital agency.

See: Indonesia’s KapanLagi Group to merge with Fimela GroupKevin says the startup’s new investors bring strategic value beyond just cutting a check. They’ll contribute time, resources, and networks to help Printerous grow in Indonesia going forward. In the case of Steven Christian and KLN, networking should be key as Steve is one of the most well-connected media lynchpins in the archipelago. The Tahir family dabbled in tech startup investment, as Grace Tahir participated in a seed funding round for local HR firm Talenta last year. RMKB Ventures is still relatively new in Jakarta, having only backed Printerous and GiftCard Indonesia, according to its online portfolio.

Still scratching the surface

Printerous can be used to get designs printed onto photo-books, business cards, gadget cases, pillows, framed arts, and other merchandise, says Kevin. He didn’t disclose much in terms of Printerous’s traction to date, but he did say the firm’s business has grown 500 percent between Q1 and Q3 of this year. Artists and designers make money by selling their work on Printerous. Manufacturers make money by selling products. Printerous brings in money from a cut on the printed product. Customers can use their own designs or buy from the thousands of designs available in its marketplace.

Kevin says he is encouraged about Printerous for several reasons, but the main one is that similar US companies like Shutterfly and Vistaprint have been able to command billion-dollar valuations. In Indonesia, Printerous competes with other startups like Pictologi, and a little more indirectly with shirt specialists like Tees Rupawa, and Uteesme.

See: Pictalogi turns your online photos into printed albums“We always welcome competition because we believe that’s good for business. Being alone in the market provides less motivation to innovate,” says Kevin. “If you’re working in a crowded market, you won’t succeed by doing what everyone else does. Healthy competition encourages change, which will distinguish your company from others […]. We are currently just scratching the surface of a very huge international market.”

What are your thoughts on the market potential for Printerous in Southeast Asia? Can it become a unicorn like its US counterparts?