Grommet (formerly The Grommet) is an

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a wa ...

and product discovery platform for consumer products from

maker culture The maker culture is a contemporary subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture that intersects with hardware-oriented parts of hacker culture and revels in the creation of new devices as well as tinkering with existing ...

, inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. It was founded in 2008 by CEO Jules Pieri and Chief Discovery Officer Joanne Domeniconi after careers at Continuum,

Keds Keds is an American brand known for its canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916 by U.S. Rubber, its original shoe design was the first mass-marketed canvas-top sneaker. The brand was sold to Stride Rite in 1979, which was acquired by ...

Playskool Playskool is an American brand of educational toys and games for preschoolers. The former Playskool manufacturing company was a subsidiary of the Milton Bradley Company and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Playskool's last remaining plant ...

, and

Stride Rite Stride Rite, formerly the Stride Rite Corporation and stylized in all lowercase, is an American children's footwear company. The company markets Stride Rite products globally through brand licensee Vida Shoes International. History Founding a ...

. They find and review products and select certain ones to be promoted on their website. They present a new product every weekday with an editorial and video story. Members of the website then give feedback on the product. Many of their products were initially funded on the crowdfunding platforms

IndieGogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

. The Grommet sees itself as a next step after

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

success to help new businesses get launched. In June 2014, The Grommet Wholesale was launched at the first White House

Maker Faire Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself (DIY) enthusiasts established by '' Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. Hist ...

to distribute products to gift shops, museum stores, garden centers, supermarkets, and speciality retailers. In October 2017,

Ace Hardware Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the largest non-grocery retail cooperative in the United States. Founded on October 25, 1924, as "Ace Stores", the co ...

acquired a majority stake in The

Grommet Curtain grommets, used among others in shower curtains A grommet is a ring or edge strip inserted into a hole through thin material, typically a sheet of textile fabric, sheet metal or composite of carbon fiber, wood or honeycomb. Grommets are ...

. In April 2019, Pieri's first book, "How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses" was published by

McGraw-Hill Education McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

. In September 2022, GiddyUp acquired Grommet and relaunched it as a product discovery platform that empowers its shoppers to upvote products and buy directly from makers. Since relaunching in 2022, Grommet has launched over 1,000 new products from small businesses.

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* Internet properties established in 2008 Online marketplaces of the United States {{US-internet-company-stub

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