Flipstik signed an exclusive agreement with the St. Louis based swag giant, Ariel Premium, to print, pack, and ship all custom Flipstiks. The company and its cell phone case product also became part of an exhibit in the National Museum of Natural History.
“Flipstik and my story was inducted into the Smithsonian Museum,” CEO Akeem Shannon told bizblip. “As part of their new exhibit on the history of cell phones… we got to go to D.C. for a big gala and there were Senators and all kinds of people there… the president of Qualcomm, T-Mobile and a few other big companies.”
Around the same time Shannon cut a deal to get his product into a premium channel of corporate gifting.
“Our new partnership with Ariel Premium… drastically increases our capabilities,” Shannon said. “We can now offer Flipstik as a premium branded item… we are integrated into 95% of all ordering systems. This makes it easier than ever for corporations to order Flipstik as corporate gifts or giveaways.”
Flipstik, founded in 2017, uses a proprietary adhesive licensed from NASA, allowing people to stick their smart phones to practically any surface — serving as a kickstand, selfie stick and wall mount. The company has picked up at least $150,000 in grant funding, plus a handful of pitch competition prizes. From the 2020 cohort at Arch Grants the startup landed $50,000, then got another $50,000 in follow–on funding in 2022. Shannon is also a graduate of the UMSL Accelerate–DEI Accelerator — where he also picked up a $50,000 equity–free grant.
The St. Louis company currently has six full time employees and has its products in stores like AT&T, Target, Best Buy and Amazon. Flipstik was featured on the 2015 season of the hit TV series “Shark Tank“ but there is no evidence that Shannon took the offer.
Founded in 1993, Ariel Premium Supply is one of the top 40 suppliers in the corporate gifting industry.
