Last month, the domestic custom printing company Printify completed a round of A-series investments, raising a total of USD 50 million. Investors have included a number of world-renowned companies, as well as angel investors in the technology and entertainment industries, who see the growing potential of the print-on-demand industry represented by Printify. The funds raised as a result of the investment round lasting several months will be used for the further development of the company and expansion of the team, but some of them have already reached the employees.
They received one-fifth of the investment, or about $ 10 million, at the end of the investment round Printify employees who have chosen to sell their shares in the company. Essentially, that Printify is one of the first start – ups in Latvia to grant stock options to most teams, regardless of the amount of remuneration received by employees. This approach serves as an additional motivation and bonus system for industry professionals who have helped drive the company’s rapid growth. Thus, employees are also co-owners of the company, and therefore their interests are the same as those of the management – to increase the value of the company in the long run.
Given the flexibility in granting stock options, the International Venture Capital Fund Index Ventures currently ranks Latvia at the top of the world’s most business-friendly countries. This has been achieved on the basis of the amendments to the Commercial Law and the Law on Personal Income Tax introduced at the beginning of this year, which now allow limited liability companies to grant options or the right to purchase shares in the company to their employees. As the experience of other countries shows, a wider distribution of capital is healthy for the development of society and the improvement of the country’s overall economic situation. In addition, it is also a powerful tool for attracting talented employees to fast-growing and competitive companies.
“The new regulation of stock options is a particularly important development step for start-ups, as it is only nine months after its adoption that the first results can be seen in practice. Thanks to the adopted amendments, we were able to give some employees the opportunity to sell their shares in the company and we plan to do so in the future. The number of shares owned by several employees has already reached the value of one million, and we are proud that we can share the company’s success story, thus further motivating employees and stimulating the establishment of future start-ups. At the moment, we have very favorable conditions in Latvia to implement it, so I would like to invite others as well startup entrepreneurs to use it and build a business that has every chance of becoming the next big domestic success story, ”comments Printify founder and manager Jānis Berdigans.
“Printify I have been with the team for almost four years, starting as one of 30 employees. I have always considered the company and its success to be an essential part of my life. The options definitely reinforce this sense of belonging – I see them as an additional bonus for the effort and results achieved so far. In the future, when realizing my option capital, I want to invest it in new, start-up start-ups, which would be helped by both angel co-financing and my experience in mentoring the management team, ”adds Printify Product and Delivery Manager Lauris Grāvelis.
Full list of Series A investors: Index Ventures, H&M Group, Virgin Group, Change Ventures, Kevin Ryan, FJ Labs, Blue Ivy Ventures, Mantas Mikuckas, Dreamers VC, Taavet Hinrikus, Eva Lau, Anthony Casalena, Bob Young, Paul Gardi, Scott Belsky, Cooley, James Blouzard, Ott Kaukver, Shiva Rajarman, Alok Gupta, Eastward Cap, Pareto20, Pat Shah, Shaun Neff, Tripple Point Cap, Thomas Plantenga, Andrew Lumey, Casey Winters, Christopher North, Rob Eldrige, Vivay Kumar, Brian Hale, Rohini Pandhi, Arvi Kass, Kairi Pauskar, Han Shu, Jess Liu-Brown, Roman Rossov, Bohdan Bayliuk, Sander Daniels, Danti Chen, Ilya Leyrix, Andrea Luigi Raimondi, Crystal Widjaja, JMK Investments, Marek Unt, Erik Kaju.
PR Manager
–
