1. Problem: Handmade stopped meaning handmade

Leap Handmade exists because the handmade economy broke in a very specific way.

Lead Investor Julie Fredrickson: I have watched the internet and big platforms drain value from creators for years, and I am excited to support a company that is moving in the opposite direction.

Over time, “handmade” stopped meaning what buyers thought it meant. Handmade marketplaces became crowded with drop shipping, resold cheap imitations, and mass-manufactured goods passed off as artisan work. Buyers lost confidence, and real artists were left competing in a system that was crowded and that no longer worked for them.

2. Traction: 600 buyers, 195+ shops, and $37K in sales so far

Since launching in May 2025, Leap Handmade has grown to approximately 670 registered buyers and more than 195 active handmade shops. Nearly 3,800 products are currently listed, and more than $37,000 in marketplace sales have moved through the platform.

3. Approach: Every shop is reviewed by a real person before it opens

Leap Handmade was built to put trust back at the center of the handmade marketplace.

Every shop is reviewed by a real person before it goes live. Artists receive human support, retain control of their work, and keep 90% or more of their sales revenue. Buyers have a place where handmade still means something.

4. Why an ecosystem: Artists need more than a place to list

But a marketplace alone is not enough. Independent artists also need better ways to be discovered, connect with customers, and grow alongside other creative businesses.

That is why we are building an ecosystem around the marketplace.

5. Shop Local, Support Independent: 100+ local stores, 33 states, no ad spend

Our Shop Local, Support Independent program connects Leap Handmade with more than 100 independent creator supply stores across more than 33 states and growing. Participating stores help introduce their customers to Leap, while Leap encourages its community to shop locally and support independent businesses. It creates a grassroots network for reaching new buyers without relying on paid digital advertising.

6. Maker Collectives: Bringing artists on by the group

Maker Collectives give galleries, guilds, cooperatives, maker spaces, and other creative organizations a way to bring groups of artists onto Leap together. This helps established maker communities expand their online reach while giving their artists access to a marketplace built specifically for genuine handmade work.

Together, these programs connect online shopping, local businesses, and existing maker communities instead of treating them as separate worlds.

7. Use of funds: How we'll put this round to work

This round will give Leap Handmade the resources to build on that foundation and reach more artists and buyers.

We intend to allocate approximately 40% of the funds raised to marketing and buyer acquisition, 30% to team expansion and marketplace support, and 30% to continued platform development.

At the minimum raise, our priority will be maintaining development momentum, improving the highest-impact areas of marketing and conversion, and focused outreach to new buyers.

At the maximum raise, we plan to launch sustained buyer-acquisition campaigns, expand the team supporting artists and customers, accelerate the Maker Collectives and Shop Local, Support Independent programs, and complete additional marketplace tools designed to improve discovery, conversion, and repeat purchasing.

8. Targets: What we're building toward over the next 18 months

Assuming a successful raise and effective execution of this plan, our 12-to-18-month targets include:

1. Growing toward 1,000 active handmade shops
2. Expanding to more than 5,000 registered buyers
3. Increasing the marketplace to more than 15,000 active product listings
4. Growing annualized marketplace sales to more than $250,000

These figures are management projections and goals, not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially based on the amount raised, the timing and effectiveness of marketing, seller and buyer adoption, development timelines, market conditions, and other risks described in the offering materials.

9. Close: The marketplace handmade should have had

The future of handmade belongs to the people who create it, support it, and believe in it. Leap Handmade isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. It’s building the marketplace that handmade should have been all along.