99designs Acquire German Competitor 12designs

  Aussie born company 99designs announced the acquisition of the largest online design market place in Germany yesterday 12designs. The acquisition of the second largest online design marketplace behind themselves in Europe is all part of the companies intense focus on international expansion. CEO of 99designs Patrick Llewellyn was in Germany for the announcment yesterday.

Eva Missling and Patrick Llewellyn

“We’re very excited to welcome 12designer Founder and CEO Eva Missling and her talented team into the 99designs family. We believe their deep regional marketplace expertise and multi-lingual capabilities will prove instrumental in accelerating our delivery of truly localized world-class design services to European businesses and designers,” said 99designs CEO Patrick Llewellyn. “This acquisition enables us to build significantly on our existing momentum and resources in Europe and gives us an ideally situated base in Berlin. As the tech startup and design hub of Europe, there is no better place from which to implement our aggressive regional growth plans.” In conjunction with the announcement 99designs also named Missling the companies new General Manager of Europe. In the short term 12designs will still act as a stand alone site and Missling will head up the task of the companies fast growth across Europe. Financial terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed. “The 12designer team is eager to join 99designs and further our shared vision of connecting businesses seeking affordable, high-quality design services with skilled designers,” said Missling. “The combination of 99designs’ global reach and resources, 12designers’ regional experience, and the enormous multilingual talent pool here in Berlin will be a win for Europe’s small business owners and designers alike.” Details were also not disclosed as to whether Eva is contractually obligated to participate in the companies infamous "pushup" competitions. If you are a bit confused as to what I mean by this, check out Patrick's recent interview with Jesse Draper for Valley Girl TV.