Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary Backs lovepop to Change the Way We Say 'I Love You'
With New Funding, lovepop is Poised to Disrupt the $7 Billion Dollar Greeting Card Industry
With New Funding, lovepop is Poised to Disrupt the $7 Billion Dollar Greeting Card Industry
BOSTON, Dec. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On the latest episode of ABC-TV's "Shark Tank," Kevin O'Leary -- widely perceived to be the most ruthless shark -- proved he does have a heart when he beat out fellow shark Robert Herjavec for the opportunity to invest in lovepop, a Boston-based company that makes 3D pop-up cards and handmade multidimensional paper art.
The "Shark Tank" deal comes on the heels of recent funding, and lovepop will use these investments to challenge the traditional greeting card industry. "Greeting cards are a $7 billion dollar annual business that hasn't changed for decades and we know we can do better," said co-founder and CEO Wombi Rose. "Conventional cards sent to mark regular occasions have become forgettable. Our mission at lovepop is to encourage everyone to connect with those in their lives more often, and to do it in unexpected way. Don't wait until a holiday to say thanks, or I love you, or you're awesome. Send a surprise to someone's mailbox today -- we're redefining expectations of what can be sent in an envelope."
For their "Shark Tank" pitch, the lovepop team designed special cards for each one of the Sharks (a sports car for Robert, a money card for Kevin, a shopping girl for Lori, the New York skyline for Barbara, and a basketball card for Mark) as well as an 8-foot paper shark to illustrate their proprietary form of slicegami™.
"I'm thrilled to bring lovepop cards into my Something Wonderful group of companies!" says Kevin O'Leary. "Lovepop combines innovation with convenience and affordability…it doesn't get more wonderful than that."
Lovepop is a multidimensional gifting company. Co-founders Wombi Rose and John Wise, naval architects by training, fell in love with the Asian art form of sliceform kirigami, and developed slicegami™ with their engineering background to create spectacular 3D paper art and pop-up cards. Every card is blank so that customers can craft their own messages. Lovepop is reinventing the buying experience as well: e-commerce customers can have a handwritten note added and have the card mailed directly, retail locations are conveniently located at kiosks in train stations and malls, and mobile teams will set up in offices and public spaces.
Kevin O'Leary is an entrepreneur and financier, best known for his role as an investor on ABC's Shark Tank. He leads a group of financial companies as chairman of O'Leary Financial Group. He is also the founder of O'Leary Fine Wines and the bestselling author of the Cold Hard Truth series. Previously, O'Leary founded and was president of SoftKey (later called The Learning Company), a global educational software company, and negotiated its $4 billion acquisition by Mattel. For more information, visit www.olearyfinancial.com and follow @kevinolearytv on Twitter.
For more information on lovepop visit lovepopcards.com/hello -- read the blog at lovepopcards.com/blogs/pop-up-cards and follow the company on Facebook & Instagram @lovepopcards
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151214/295627
SOURCE Lovepop Cards
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