Bangalore based Printo, a digital printing service has acquired Lifeblob, a photo sharing service.
Lifeblob started as a life timeline portal (exploration through pictures), and eventually found its mojo in photo sharing and printing (via store launch). The Bangalore based startup raised $1mn from Seedfund (in tranches), eventually shifted its focus to Indian market (was earlier targeting US market, which was way too tough to crack) and launched the store product recently.
Printo (founder, Manish Sharma spoke at the recent UnPluGGd) started in 2005 and is among the top branded digital printing company (funded by Seedfund and Sequoia).
“Over the past year, we have had the fortune of working with Printo as our fulfillment partner and it is time that we made the bond stronger. This acquisition brings together one of the finest online photo merchandising platforms, together with the largest retail printing network in India and is a big step in our collective vision of making printing easier and accessible to our users.
While the finer details are still being worked out, here are the major changes that will happen over the next month or so:
a) The personalized photo gifting store at http://www.lifeblob.com/store will be available athttp://www.printo.in after the transition is complete.
b) The photo sharing service at http://www.lifeblob.com will be discontinued post the transition. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has used and enjoyed our services – we will follow up shortly with an email that tells you how you can get your photos back before the service is discontinued.” – LifeBlob blog
Don’t expect this to be a high numbers deal. Lifeblob’s store isn’t among the top digital stores in India (in any category), but the good news is that it fits well with consumer generated content that LB has managed to garner vis-a-vis Printo’s digital printing offering.
Finding one’s mojo takes time and Lifeblob has surely found its own (after multiple iterations). Congratulations to Pranav, Rakesh and the entire LB team.
Update: A Perspective on Lifeblob-Printo Deal [Distress Sale vs. A Product Story?]
