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, the company that helps artists and other creators receive an income through patron memberships, announced today that it acquired New York-based Kit, a network that allows users to make money by reviewing and sharing products online.

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Through Patreon, creators ranging from makeup gurus, painters, and musicians are supported by their subscribers and fans with tiered memberships. With its platform, Patreon aims to reshape the way that people think about art as a 鈥渟ensible鈥� profession.

鈥淸By using Patreon] you can have a recurring steady income that grows year over year and you can buy a house and get health insurance just like everybody else. […] that has not been the future for artists for the last 25 years, and I think it will be in the next 25 years.鈥� Patreon VP of Product, Wyatt Jenkins told 附近上门 News in a phone interview.

The company has aimed to further diversify its offerings. In February, Patreon , an exclusive Snapchat or Instagram story-like feature. With its acquisition of Kit, it plans to fill a need creators have been asking for: merch.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening today is so gnarly. Creators are packing boxes and putting address labels on envelopes and folding t-shirts, but what we鈥檙e creating is an automated merch solution.鈥滼enkins told 附近上门 News.

The company started working on its merch service last December, building out a platform to give third party vendors access to its large pool of creators and offer Patreon creators the option to choose which types of merch they want to send to their patrons.

鈥淪ome creators want really tight design control because they want to control their brand and they鈥檝e got a great eye for that, and other creators are like a podcaster […] who just wants their logo on a bunch of stuff. For us it varies so widely that we have to give creators choice,鈥� Jenkins told 附近上门 News.

As for Kit鈥檚 product, Jenkins says that maintaining the success of Kit is a long term priority for Patreon. 鈥淜it is making creators money, and […] our mission is to get creators paid, so we want to maintain Kit and make sure that it continues to do so,鈥� Jenkins explained, adding that in its long term vision, Patreon plans to integrate the best of Kit鈥檚 platform into its own.

The company is not disclosing the terms of the acquisition. However, Jenkins said both Patreon and Kit, which has raised a total of $2.5 million since its founding, are happy with the deal.

鈥淓verybody is stoked. Their board is happy and our board is happy, and we found a place that we鈥檙e all excited about,鈥� Jenkins said.

Founded in 2013, has raised more than $105 million from investors like , , and . It鈥檚 latest round, a in September 2017, brought its valuation up to nearly $450 million.

According to Jenkins, Patreon currently has 100,000 creators supported by 2 million individuals with paid memberships. The company, which collects a small 5 percent cut on all memberships, is on track to pay out $300 million to its creators in 2018, which is nearly the total $350 million that the company paid out to creators in its first 5 years. It鈥檚 latest acquisition and plan to offer creators more membership options is yet another way the company plans to bring more creators to its platform, and more members to support them.

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