Richmond, VA, Oct. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) today announced that the Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) has invested in Card Isle, a Blacksburg, Va.-based technology company that is rethinking how greeting cards can be distributed in a changing retail landscape. Card Isle offers turnkey solutions to design, order, and print personalized greeting cards, and will use this capital from VFF to continue their rapid growth in the eCommerce gifting sector and develop new markets.
Greeting cards have a unique ability to connect people of all generations, whether it is to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, or to express sympathy or gratitude. Card Isle is focused on creating a stress-free card-buying experience by making greeting cards more personal, accessible, and fun. Card Isle’s suite of personalized greeting card printing solutions are used by retailers across the U.S. and Canada, allowing consumers to customize cards online and print them on-demand at a location convenient to them. Retailers can also use Card Isle’s ecommerce solutions to cross-sell personalized greeting cards with any product ordered online.
“For an industry worth $6.2 billion dollars, the typical card-buying experience is pretty grim. If you’re like me, you probably spend a lot of time searching for the right card, but still settle on a mediocre one. Card Isle is here to change that experience,” said Adam Donato, CEO of Card Isle. “We make it possible for customers to design their own cards from home, through the businesses and services they already use. This also increases the average order value for our partners. We are grateful for the support of Virginia Founders Fund, which will play a significant role in our growth.”
Card Isle offers over 15,000 designs created by local and independent artists for businesses and users to choose from and create meaningful greeting cards. The company takes on the roles of sales, marketing, operations and distribution infrastructure so that artists can focus on what they do best: creating. Artists receive a royalty on every card that is printed. Card Isle’s solutions for ecommerce retailers include automated printing, managed inventory such as cardstock, ink and envelopes, and a fully customizable API that can be integrated into existing websites.
“Greeting cards are a profitable item in brick and mortar stores, but it can be a hassle to offer cards for customer pickup. Card Isle’s turnkey solution allows cards to be designed and personalized on a business’ website, and then printed on-demand at their stores,” said Tom Weithman, Managing Director, CIT GAP Funds. “Card Isle is breaking into an incredible market opportunity and has already secured strong partnerships with industry leaders such as 1800 Flowers and Canon. We look forward to being part of Card Isle’s journey.”
Launched in 2018, the Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) shines a light on the creativity and impact of entrepreneurs arising from Virginia communities traditionally underserved by risk capital. Through VFF, CIT GAP Funds has committed more than $3M of its returns for reinvestment in female founders, founders of color, veteran founders and founders located in regions outside of Northern Virginia, seeking to maximize both the economic development and social equity imperatives of the Commonwealth.
For more information, please visit www.cit.org.
About Card Isle
Card Isle Corporation is a technology company that is rethinking how greeting cards can be distributed in a changing retail landscape. They combine crowd-sourced designs with distributed printers to empower retailers and businesses of all types—and now home users—to create meaningful greeting cards. A Techstars Alumni company based in Blacksburg, Virginia, Card Isle is dedicated to empowering connections between people with accessible, playful, and personalized greeting cards. For more information, please visit www.cardisle.com.
About the Virginia Founders Fund
Launched in 2018, the Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) is focused on providing venture capital for Virginia’s traditionally underrepresented entrepreneurs. Proceeds from the Center for Innovative Technology’s (CIT) successful GAP Funds investment program are being reinvested into the Virginia economy through the VFF, which specifically supports female, minority or veteran founders, or other entrepreneurs located in regions outside of Northern Virginia who are emerging into sectors such as software, hardware, life science, cleantech, and technology-enabled services. The VFF works with regional startup initiatives, early-stage funds, and accelerator programs across the Commonwealth to identify strategic opportunities for investment and potential co-investment to leverage additional capital. For more information, please visit https://www.cit.org/virginiafoundersfund/.
About the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT)
Investing in Virginia's Growth | CIT concentrates on the early commercialization and seed funding stages of innovation, helping innovators and tech entrepreneurs launch and grow new companies, create high paying jobs and accelerate economic growth throughout the entire state of Virginia. Founded in 1985, CIT accelerates next-generation technologies and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, market development initiatives, and expansion of broadband throughout Virginia. Our programs include | CIT GAP Funds | Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) | Virginia Founders Fund | Broadband/Rural Broadband | Smart Communities | Cybersecurity | Unmanned Systems | SBIR/STTR Support (Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs) | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement. CIT’s CAGE Code is 1UP71. | For more information, visit www.cit.org or follow CIT on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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