Vistaprint, the design and marketing partner to small businesses around the world, is proud to announce its new year-round Platinum-level partnership with StartOut, a non-profit dedicated to empowering, supporting and amplifying LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. This $100,000 multifunctional partnership was formed to lift up LGBTQ+ startups and small business owners through a strategic offering of mentorship, education, design and marketing assistance, and scholarship programs for StartOut members.
“We’re most grateful for Vistaprint’s passion and support of our whole community and thrilled to have Vistaprint join the StartOut family,” said StartOut Executive Director Andres Wydler. “With each of our relationships, we aim to support our LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs directly. This partnership is a powerful statement both for Vistaprint’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and the importance of their cost-effective products and services for our growth entrepreneurs who have what it takes to succeed with the right resources.”
Vistaprint is proud to be sponsoring 25 scholarships for the StartOut Acceleration Initiative which seeks to help bridge the minority and gender inequality that exists in the entrepreneurial community through 1-on-1 mentorship opportunities between industry experts and growing small businesses. Additionally, Vistaprint will be an official sponsor of StartOut’s annual Equity Virtual Summit as well as NetworQ, a digital networking platform for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
StartOut is also working closely with 99designs by Vistaprint to identify 10 LGBTQ+-owned small businesses for participation in 99 Days of Design, an initiative that provides bespoke design support and financial donations of $15,000 to help small businesses as they emerge from the pandemic.
“We are excited to be working with StartOut to help empower LGBTQ+ small businesses through mentorship, financial donations, design transformations and storytelling. Visibility is powerful and we can’t wait to start sharing these small business stories,” Vistaprint North America President Emily Whittaker said. “We’ve seen how invaluable mentorship can be for entrepreneurs, especially as they are just starting out or gearing up to grow their business. Similarly, we understand how powerful design can be in catapulting small businesses to their next stage.”
In addition to this combined $250,000 investment in LGBTQ+ small businesses, Vistaprint has also committed 20 percent of the proceeds from its June 2021 sales of its newly launched line of Pride products, which includes face masks, clothing, mugs, stickers, and marketing items to help small businesses and community members honor and celebrate pride.
This partnership announcement comes on the heels of Vistaprint’s debut on the Human Rights Campaign’s list of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality”. Vistaprint earned recognition with a score of 100 on the HRC Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s preeminent survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.
###
About StartOut
Founded in 2009, StartOut, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is the largest national organization to support LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs with over 17K members nationwide. StartOut’s mission is to increase the number, diversity, and impact of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and amplify their stories to drive the economic empowerment of the community. StartOut helps aspiring LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs start new companies; supports current entrepreneurs as they grow and expand their existing businesses; and engages successful entrepreneurs as role models and mentors, on its online portal and through targeted events nationwide. For more information, please visit www.startout.org
About Vistaprint
Vistaprint is the marketing and design partner to millions of small businesses around the world, empowering each one to live their dreams. For more than 20 years, we have helped small businesses look and feel credible through high-quality marketing products and solutions that include signage, logo apparel, promotional products, face masks, flyers, postcards, business cards, websites and digital marketing. With Vistaprint, small businesses are able to create and customize their marketing with easy-to-use digital tools and design templates, or by receiving expert graphic design support. In 2020, Vistaprint acquired 99designs to expand its design offering via a worldwide community of more than 150,000 talented freelance designers to make it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Vistaprint is focused on making great marketing and design accessible to every small business owner, allowing them to create a cohesive brand image for use in-store, online and on-the-go. To learn more, visit www.vistaprint.com. Vistaprint is a Cimpress company (Nasdaq: CMPR).