Funding Progress
$112,639 of a $750,000 goal
15 investors got here early — join them before momentum builds
Invest: Minimum ($250)
About NOVICA & Handmade.com
NOVICA was founded more than two decades ago with a mission to provide a new, life-changing platform for artisans worldwide. What began as a group of friends at Stanford, inspired by a co-founder's grandmother who was a weaver in Peru, has grown into one of the world's leading marketplaces for handmade goods, with $20M+ in annual revenue, over one million customers served, and partnerships with UNICEF, the Smithsonian, and Kiva.
The impact is proven and measurable. NOVICA has delivered more than $144 million directly to makers worldwide to date, shipping over one million products in the last 12 months. Nine regional hubs provide in-person support to more than 3,000 producer groups representing 75,000 artisans and family members across a dozen countries. Many of our makers are women, and their earnings flow directly into their households, their children's education, and their communities.
This matters now because the world's makers are running out of time. Mass production and AI-generated goods are flooding the market, drowning out authentic craftsmanship, and centuries-old cultural traditions disappear when younger generations cannot earn a living from them. Handmade.com is our answer: a social, video-first marketplace where makers share videos from their workshops, tell the stories behind their craft, and connect directly with buyers worldwide. With AI-assisted onboarding, self-service tools, and NOVICA's global logistics backbone, Handmade.com is built to expand our reach from tens of thousands of makers to millions, in a $900 billion global handmade economy where the leading platform, $10B Etsy, has drifted from its handmade roots.
The company is raising the final portion of its current financing round, with over $20 million raised to date from investors including Scripps Ventures, National Geographic, and Michael Burns, Vice Chairman of Lionsgate. Proceeds fund ongoing expansion, maker onboarding, marketing, and partnerships. Funds committed now also count toward the $1.5 million milestone that unlocks a $5 million strategic advertising commitment from a major media partner, multiplying the growth impact of every dollar.
Backers are supporting a proven, revenue-generating company at a true inflection point: established infrastructure and measurable impact combined with a new growth engine designed for global scale, aligning financial participation with the expansion of one of the world's most mission-driven commerce platforms.
Themes & SDGs Supported
Mission and Vision
Around the world, master artisans are being pushed out of the global economy. Middlemen capture most of the value of their work, mass production and AI-generated goods flood the market, and centuries-old craft traditions are disappearing with each generation that cannot earn a living from them. The window to reverse this is now. NOVICA was founded to change that: to empower artisans worldwide and preserve cultural heritage. Over two decades, we have delivered more than $144 million directly to makers, many of them women, with earnings flowing into families, education, and communities. Handmade.com is the next chapter. In an AI-driven world, we are building the global platform for human creativity, with tools that open the door for millions more makers. Our vision is a world where artisans prosper, women are empowered, children have greater educational opportunities, cultural traditions thrive, and human creativity is valued more than ever.
Investment Terms
To view Terms/Materials, you must have a CataCap account and be logged in. Access to full materials is available to Donor/Investors with an active CataCap balance.
If you do not have an active balance, you may contact the company or fund directly using the “Questions about this investment?” link, or email [email protected] for assistance.
Investment Materials
To view Materials/Terms, you must have a CataCap account and be logged in. Access to full materials is available to Donor/Investors with an active CataCap balance.
If you do not have an active balance, you may contact the company or fund directly using the “Questions about this investment?” link, or email [email protected] for assistance.
News
Building the future of handmade: Roberto Milk on NOVICA, AI and artist empowerment
What happens when technology helps human creativity thrive instead of replacing it? In this episode of Catalytic Capital, host Ken Kurtzig speaks with Roberto Milk, co-founder and CEO of NOVICA and Handmade.com, about his 25-year journey building a global marketplace that connects artisans directly with customers. Roberto shares how an unexpected conversation in a Stanford Portuguese class inspired NOVICA, how the company pioneered online artisan commerce before Etsy existed, and how it has delivered more than $144 million to artisans worldwide. He and Ken also explore NOVICA’s impact on women, families and local economies; the importance of preserving cultural traditions; and how Handmade.com plans to use AI to help millions of artisans reach global customers while protecting the authenticity of human-made products. NOVICA has already raised more than $100,000 from 15 donor-investors through CataCap. Learn more about NOVICA, its impact and the opportunity to support its next chapter: https://catacap.org/investments/novica Follow Catalytic Capital for more conversations with entrepreneurs using business and investment capital to address some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.
Funding Progress
$112,639 of a $750,000 goal
15 investors got here early — join them before momentum builds
Put Your Capital to Work
Invest: Minimum ($250)