99designs was founded by
Matt Mickiewicz and
Mark Harbottle as a spin-off of
SitePoint, a website started in 1998 as a
forum for web developers and designers. Designers on its forums began organizing contests based on fictional client briefs. The founders decided to test charging a fee to post briefs for real projects, eventually creating 99designs as a separate company for the contests. In 2008, the company opened a
San Francisco office because the majority of the platform's initial clients and designers were in the United States. It later moved its U.S. headquarters to Oakland, California. The platform was later redesigned to allow customers to directly search for and hire designers, outside of design competitions. In 2012, the company acquired a European competitor called 12designer, based in
Germany. Its office became the European headquarters of 99designs. In 2013, the company acquired LogoChef, a Brazilian competitor. In 2017, the company relocated back to Melbourne. The company was acquired in October 2020 by the American-Irish company
Cimpress. ==Financials==