Our Story
Promo is becoming branded merch. We’re building for that.
Brikl is the on-demand platform promotional product distributors run their bulk orders and branded stores on, founded in 2019 by Maarten Boone. We think this industry is mid-shift — from products pushed in bulk to merch people choose — and that the coordination work holding it together is the part software should absorb.
The problem we saw
The Story Behind Brikl
The promotional products industry generates over $26 billion in annual revenue in the United States alone, yet much of it still runs on manual processes — email-based ordering, spreadsheet inventory tracking, and fragmented fulfillment workflows.
Distributors carry inventory risk, decorators rely on unpredictable order volumes, and end customers wait weeks for products that could be produced on demand.
Before Brikl, Maarten Boone spent over a decade at Hanesbrands Inc. — one of the world’s largest apparel companies. He started in printwear sales in Europe, then took on global supply chain leadership roles across Europe, the US, and Asia. That experience gave him a front-row seat to how the decorated apparel supply chain actually works — and where it breaks down.
In 2017, he founded brikl.io in London as a 2D-3D product configurator for the custom products industry. By 2019, the vision had evolved. The configurator was phased out, the company relocated from London to Belgium and the US, and brikl.com was born with a broader mission: to build a purpose-built commerce platform for B2B promotional products — with on-demand fulfillment integrated directly into the platform, so distributors would never need to hold inventory again.
What we built
One platform for the whole supply chain
Brikl is not a general-purpose commerce tool. It is purpose-built for the promotional products supply chain — connecting distributors, decorators and suppliers in a single automated workflow, from storefront creation to order routing to fulfillment.
Today it integrates with 12 fulfillment providers, leading wholesale blank goods suppliers, and supports 17 currencies. Distributors create unlimited branded stores, process orders automatically, and pay only 3.5% per transaction.
Built by engineers, for an underserved industry
The majority of our team writes code. That ratio is intentional — the complexity of the promo supply chain demands it.
Engineers first
More than 70% of the team writes code, so we build deep where others integrate around the edges.
API-first from day one
Every action a user can take is also callable by something that isn't a user — the base for Brikl for AI.
SOC 2 Type II
One of the few commerce platforms in the promotional products industry with SOC 2 Type II attestation.
Our Mission
Our mission is to make on demand the default operating model of this industry — a store in seconds, a bulk order without guessing, decorators who receive work instead of chasing it — and to make the merch itself worth choosing.
Industry commitment
We participate in industry events and maintain partnerships with leading suppliers and decorators across North America and Europe.
PPAI member
Promotional Products Association International, member #803362.
SAAC member
Specialty Advertising Association of California, member #273189.
PPAI Expo
Exhibiting at the annual PPAI Expo in Las Vegas.
Two offices
Cincinnati, Ohio (US) and Lubbeek, Belgium (EU).
The current release
v3.0, and why it arrived at once
The four things in v3.0 look like separate features. They aren’t. Each one takes a job a person used to do by hand and hands it to the platform — and they shipped together because removing one step only helps if the next step doesn’t still need a human.
Turbo Store
A store stops being a project. Three picks and the catalog, pricing, artwork and storefront are assembled in about ten seconds.
Order Builder
Bulk stops needing a storefront. The same on-demand supply chain now sits behind the bulk orders distributors already place.
Instant digitization (coming soon)
Artwork stops being a bill. An ordinary logo becomes production-ready output with no digitizing charge and no proofing cycle.
Brikl for AI
SoonThe interface stops being the only way in. Every action in the platform is exposed as a tool an assistant can call.
Where we think this goes
Promo is a coordination business. That’s the part AI takes.
Look honestly at where a distributor’s day goes and very little of it is spent selling. It goes on sourcing a product, chasing a quote, preparing artwork, re-keying an order into a supplier’s system, and answering “where is it?”. That work is coordination, and coordination is exactly what this generation of AI is good at.
The distributors who do well over the next few years won’t be the ones with the largest teams. They’ll be the ones whose platform absorbs the coordinating, so people are left doing the parts that need a person: the relationship, the taste, the judgement. Brikl for AI is the concrete version of it — running the business from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok. It is coming soon.
The shift
From promotional products to branded merch
The two terms describe the same objects and completely different businesses. A promotional product is something an organization buys in bulk and hands out. Branded merch is something a person chooses, and often pays for. One is a giveaway; the other has to be good enough to be wanted.
We think that shift is already underway, and that it changes three things at once.
Who decides
The person wearing it, not the person buying for a headcount. Sizes, colors and styles get chosen rather than estimated.
When it’s made
After the order, not before it. Which is the only way choice is affordable — you can’t offer a full size run you had to pre-buy.
What gets measured
Whether it gets worn, not whether it shipped. Merch nobody wanted was always a cost; it just used to be invisible.
On demand is what makes it possible — not as a cost-saving, but because you cannot let people choose if you had to guess the quantities six weeks earlier. That is the industry we’re building for: one where the merch is good enough that someone picks it on purpose. More on what branded merch is.
Key Milestones
- 2019
Launched brikl.com in Belgium as a purpose-built commerce platform for promotional products
- 2020
First distributor partnerships launched in Europe
- 2022
Expanded operations to the US
- 2023
The Vernon Company (Counselor Top 40) adopts Brikl; SOC 2 Type II attestation achieved
- 2024
Printful Enterprise strategic partnership; Fulfill Engine and FAST Platform integrations
- 2025
Kaeser & Blair (Counselor Top 40) launches on-demand program with Brikl
- 2026
PPAI Expo exhibitor (Booth #3508); v3.0 released — Turbo Store and Order Builder
Leadership Team
Maarten Boone
CEO & Founder
Over a decade at Hanesbrands Inc., starting in printwear in Europe and taking on global supply chain leadership roles across Europe, the US, and Asia. Founded brikl.io in London (2017) as a 3D product configurator, then pivoted to brikl.com in 2019 to build a purpose-built commerce platform for the promotional products industry.
LinkedIn
Enoc Gutierrez
Tech & Product
Previously a senior software engineer at Rappi, where he helped build Rappi Turbo — Latin America’s ultra-fast delivery platform. At Brikl, Enoc drives both the technical vision and product strategy, shaping what we build and how we build it.
LinkedIn
Joe Edmunds
Business Growth
With Brikl since 2023, Joe brings over 20 years of business development and sales leadership experience — including VP-level roles in corporate business development. He leads distributor acquisition, and plays a key role in onboarding Counselor Top 40 distributors.
LinkedInBoard Members
Maarten Boone
CEO & Founder, Brikl
Susan Rye
Former Strategic Account Director at SanMar
Luc Osselaer
CEO Saffelberg Investments
Bart Van Pee
Serial entrepreneur and investor
On the road
Where to find Brikl next
Kaeser & Blair Sales Leader Summit 2026
Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk · San Antonio, TX
GXN Annual Conference 2026
Grand Tirolia Hotel · Kitzbühel, Austria
PPAI Expo 2027
Mandalay Bay Convention Center · Las Vegas, NV
Print on Demand Conference 2027
Austin, TX
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