About Branders
Branders is a Retail company based in Miami (United States) founded in 1999, and was acquired by BEL Promo in March 2014. High-quality, low-priced promotional products are supplied online to businesses. Branders has raised $20.96 million across 7 funding rounds from investors including Menlo Ventures, DCM and Altos Ventures Management. The company was acqui-hired. Branders offers products and services including Ceramic Mugs, Tote Bags, T-Shirts, Travel Mugs, and Water Bottles. Its focus areas include Horizontal E-Commerce and Retailer. Its legal entity is BEL USA LLC. Its competitors include Amazon, Zulily and Wish Shopping; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Branders was founded in 1999 in Miami, United States, and operates as an online platform in the promotional products sector. Access to these items is provided via the Internet to approximately 100,000 customers, with 25 consisting of business owners of varying sizes. Endorsement from the American Marketing Association has been received, along with an award for its logo. Services focus on promotional items for marketing needs.
- Total Equity Funding$20.96M (USD)
in 7 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$448.99K (USD), Series C
Jan 2010
- InvestorsMenlo Ventures
& 4 more
- Acquired byBEL Promo
(Mar 2014)
Products & Services of Branders
Branders offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Ceramic Mugs, Tote Bags, T-Shirts, Travel Mugs, and Water Bottles.
Custom printed mugs for promotional and gifting purposes
Reusable bags with custom designs for carrying items
Custom apparel for branding and events
Insulated mugs for on-the-go promotional use
Custom bottles for hydration and marketing
Apps and channels of Branders
its YouTube channel DiscountMugs has 5.5K subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Branders
The most watched videos on Branders's YouTube channel, DiscountMugs (5.5K subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on DiscountMugs.
Funding Insights of Branders
Branders has successfully raised a total of $20.96M across 7 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series C round of $448.99 thousand completed in January 2010. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $20.96M
- Total Rounds 7
- Last Round Series C β $448,993
- First Round $4.91M
(Dec 2002)
- Investors Count 4
All 7 funding rounds of Branders with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $448,993 | Series C | β | β | β |
| Dec 2009 | $5M | Series C | β | β | |
| Apr 2009 | $1.6M | Series C | β | β | β |
| Jan 2009 | $3M | Series C | β | β | |
| Jul 2005 | $500,000 | Debt – Conventional | β | β | β |
| Feb 2004 | $6M | Series B | β | β | |
| Dec 2002 | $4.91M | Series A | β | β |
5 investors in total: 5 institutional.
Investors in Branders
Branders has secured backing from 5 investors, including venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Menlo Ventures, DCM and Altos Ventures Management.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Early-stage venture capital firm investing in AI, healthcare, and tech sectors. | menlovc.com | |||
Tech-focused seed, early, and mid-stage VC investments are made globally. | dcm.com | Menlo Park, United States | ||
Early-stage companies are funded by this venture capital firm. | altos.vc | Menlo Park, United States | ||
Venture capital firm | absventures.com | Waltham, United States | ||
Operates an online store providing a wide range of promotional products for businesses. | 2004 | belpromo.com | Miami, United States |
Investor details for Branders
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Branders
4 dated milestones of Branders across 15 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Branders is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $4.9M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series C, of $449K.
- Exit Acquired by BEL Promo.
Competitors of Branders
Branders has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Amazon, Zulily and Wish Shopping.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| amazon.com | 1994 | Seattle, United States | $8M | 1,556,000 | Multi-category products are offered through an online marketplace. | |
| zulily.com | 2009 | Seattle, United States | $134.6M | 2,866 | Online shopping platform is operated via flash sales by Zulily. | |
| wish.com | 2009 | San Francisco, United States | $928.7M | 739 | Online marketplace platform offering multi-category consumer products |
Detailed competitors of Branders
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Branders
Websites that share an audience with Branders (branders.com).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Branders. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| epromos.com | 100% | #790,152 | View details | ||
| 4imprint.com | 100% | 1.5M | #39,958 | View details | |
| artpromos.com | 100% | #7,768,204 | View details | ||
| inkhead.com | 100% | View details | |||
| motivators.com | 93% | View details | |||
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
| β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’ | β’β’β’β’β’β’.com | β’β’% | β’.β’M | #β’β’β’β’β’ | β |
All 29 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Branders
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- 29 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
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Related news about Branders
Complete news archive for Branders
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Frequently Asked Questions about Branders
Branders was founded in 1999 and raised its 1st funding round 3 years after it was founded.
Branders is headquartered in Miami, United States. It is registered at Miami, Florida, United States.
Branders is a funded company, having raised a total of $20.96M across 7 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $4.91M, raised on Dec 2002.
Branders was founded in 1999 in Miami, United States, and operates as an online platform in the promotional products sector. Access to these items is provided via the Internet to approximately 100,000 customers, with 25 consisting of business owners of varying sizes. Endorsement from the American Marketing Association has been received, along with an award for its logo. Services focus on promotional items for marketing needs.
Branders's top competitors include Amazon, Zulily and Wish Shopping.
Branders offers Ceramic Mugs, Tote Bags, T-Shirts, Travel Mugs, and Water Bottles.
Branders has 5 investors. Key investors include Menlo Ventures, DCM, Altos Ventures Management, ABS Ventures, and BEL Promo.
Branders operates through Bel Usa Llc.
Yes. Branders was acquired by BEL Promo in March 2014.

