The financing round, which will be used by the company to flesh out its portfolio by accelerating product development, attracted backing from leading local angel investors such as AppWorks Ventures, Nine Yi Capital and UDN Group.
Fandora founder and CEO Steven Su said the firm is essentially a platform for indie designers and illustrators to display their artistic creations and engage in exchanges and interactions. “We put in place a mechanism for these artists to continue creating and making a living by helping them merchandise their artworks.”
Established in 2012 by Labin Technology Inc., Fandora boasts a lineup of over 2,600 local designers and illustrators. Last year the company’s online store rolled out more than 30,000 art print products based on resident artists’ illustrations. These include clothing, drawstring bags, smartphone cases, stationery and tablet covers.
According to Su, character illustrations are a billion-dollar business worldwide, spawning wildly lucrative characters such as Hello Kitty and Peanuts over the years.
“With the rise of the Internet, new characters are becoming increasingly popular, overriding the confines of cultural and geographical barriers,” he said. “We aim to leverage the e-commerce platform to promote indigenous Taiwan characters worldwide.”
Su said Fandora has come a long way since it started life representing foreign designer products. “Our second quarter 2014 performance saw growth of 1,100 percent year on year. And we expect even healthier numbers once a dedicated English website is launched by year-end.” (YHC-JSM)
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