What is the story behind Personera?
The idea behind Personera was an epiphany that occurred when Sheraan Amod, a social networking and tech evangelist met Jaco de Wet, an industrial engineering grad and publishing enthusiast.
Personera, a web to print company combining the best elements of Facebook and personalized digital print was founded soon after. With backing of angel investors, the startup launched publicly in November 2009.
What makes your company unique in its industry?
We were the first company in the world to launch a Facebook personalized print calendar that automatically includes a user’s photos, friends’ birthdays, and events.
We are unique because:
1) Using Facebook Connect, we have made it fast and easy for people to personalize print tangible print products with their Facebook content.
2) Our new scalable and distributed production process allows us to produce products at a network of sites around the world, whereas our competitors are tied to a single manufacturing/print partner.
Future plans for the company?
By combining Facebook with the latest digital print technology, we plan to enhance everyday media such as calendars, cards, photobooks, planners and magazines.
We believe in the individual’s need to enjoy a tailored experience with all of their media (not just online). That’s why we called our company “Personera” – because we’re moving into the “Personalization Era”.
What was the start-up budget?
For the first 6 months the company was bootstrapped on less than $10,000.
Thus far the company has received $185,000 from angel investors.
Year Founded:
2009
URL:
Founders and Ages:
Sheraan Amod (Co-Founder & CEO): 24
Jaco de Wet (Co-Founder & COO): 26
Michael Champanis (Co-Founder & CTO): 26
Where can people find the company?
Facebook: http://facebook.personera.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/personera
