Pwinty parent Prodigi buys Kite from Canon Europe

GaryPageau

API platform provider Prodigi Group announced it acquired Kite Tech Ltd. (Kite.ly) from Canon Europe. According to the announcement, the combined company has more than 100 staff, processes more than a million printed a month and has grown 10x over the past three years.

Both Prodigi and Kite are print API businesses specializing in the dropshipping of high-volume, print-on-demand photo products such as canvases, framed pictures, and t-shirts using a software-connected network of integrated print labs. Prodigy acquired Pwinty in 2017.

Kite, founded in 2014 by Charlie Carpenter and Deon Botha, was itself acquired by Canon Europe in 2017 as part of a strategy to expand its digital services portfolio.

According to an article in PrintWeek: “The acquisition completed on 27 August. Prodigi chief executive James Old said that combining Kite’s software with its own API platform ‘will help our customers sell more, with greater scale and lower costs…We were a supplier of Kite’s and close to the team. I’d always let them know we were interested in acquiring if opportunity arose. Canon had a specific selection criteria about potential acquirers and we fit the profile. It was a competitive process.

We are both software companies so unifying our different software products to help increase growth opportunities for our clients is very exciting. ‘”

David Gross, Senior Director, Digital Sales and Experience for Canon Europe said: “Having nurtured and grown the business, we are pleased to have found the right home for the Kite team. Prodigi are recognised as one of the leading print on-demand platforms and the two businesses have worked closely together as print partners for many years. We wish them all the best for the future.”

Unlike Kite, Prodigi operates a vertically integrated business model, combining in-house printing in the UK and the Netherlands with a significantly larger global network of print partners than Kite’s customers have previously had access to, the company said in a statement. Following the acquisition, Kite.ly will remain based in London, with the team focusing on integrating their Shopify and Photo Book products with Prodigi’s print API.

Charlie Carpenter, founder and CEO of Kite, said: “I am excited that Kite will be joining the Prodigi family. Not only does Prodigi have deep expertise in our core market, its vertically integrated business model and global reach will help our clients grow significantly.” Kite will be renamed and will use the Prodigi branding going forward, according to Old, who added Carpenter will now become Prodigi’s chief commercial officer, according to Printweek.