Nigerian startup Kiakiaprint partners with Canva

Kiakiaprint, Nigerian print startup, has announced its partnership with Canva, an online design and publishing company.

The financial details of the partnership remain undisclosed. This marks Canva’s first partnership with an African print-on-demand company.

About Kiakiaprint

Tunde Ademuyiwa, Bumi Ademuyiwa, and Gbolade Ogunfowote founded the print and design startup in November 2017. To make printing hassle-free, the online platform allows users to design or upload designs and order personalised prints.

“Kiakiaprint aims to be the Uber for printing. We see ourselves more as a technology company than a printing company. With our platform, we want people anywhere in the world to order for prints,” said Ademuyiwa.

Currently available only in Nigeria, Kiakiaprint is planning to take its on-demand print service to South African small and medium businesses. However, unlike in Nigeria where users can design or upload designs of 22 categories of products, Kiakiaprint will launch with 9 categories including business cards, postcards, banners, and T-shirts in South Africa.

Ademuyiwa said that the startup had to grow organically, focusing on a lot of small and medium-sized businesses. “The revenue we made from these businesses was like our seed, it was what we used to run Kiakiaprint. But right now, we’re looking at outside investment because of the scale of what we’re trying to achieve.”

In a short span of time, Kiakiaprint has established itself as one of Nigeria’s best printing companies.

Statements from Kiakiaprint and Canva

Ademuyiwa said that Canva will facilitate Kiakiaprint’s vision to help businesses grow by leveraging design and print technology. “When it comes to design technology, nobody beats Canva. From our discussions, they saw us as a forward-thinking company and know we’re worth the partnership.”

According to Canva, looking for an entry into the African market, it chose Kiakiaprint because “Kiakiaprint shares very similar values with us at Canva. They also have a passion for design and delivering high-quality solutions for their customers who are also at the heart of their business. So, partnering with a company such as Kiakiaprint is the ideal collaboration for Canva and the perfect platform to enter the African market,” said Aaron Day, Global Partnerships Lead at Canva.

The partnership will lead to simplifying the design to print process, offering choice and flexibility, and connecting with their customers.