Earthbound
Earthbound is a New York-based brand management, product design, and licensing agency serving iconic consumer brands, mass-market retailers including Walmart, and celebrity brands across licensing, product development, and creative services since 1994.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Earthbound does
Earthbound LLC is a privately held, full-service brand management, product design, product development, and licensing agency founded in 1994 and headquartered in New York. The firm operates three integrated service divisions—Licensing (strategic brand extensions and licensing program management), Product Design & Development (concept-to-retail execution including market research, trend analysis, sketches, CADs, prototypes, supplier management, sourcing, and quality assurance), and Creative Services (brand identity, logo design, packaging, photography direction, and style guides)—with additional offices in Bentonville, Arkansas (anchored in the Walmart ecosystem) and Providence, Rhode Island.
The company serves four primary customer segments: iconic consumer brands seeking category expansion through licensing (Honda, Hallmark, Ford, Girl Scouts of the USA, DuPont Kevlar), mass-market retailers seeking differentiated private label and exclusive collections (Walmart, QVC), celebrity/influencer brands needing turnkey consumer product development (Drew Barrymore's Beautiful, The Pioneer Woman, Isaac Mizrahi, Dave & Jenny Marrs, Haute Hippie), and heritage food and beverage brands seeking non-food lifestyle extension (Sun-Maid, BRIX Holdings/Friendly's, Bose). Revenue is generated through licensing royalties on programs the agency manages and professional services fees on design and creative engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed and is structured on a custom project basis.
Earthbound operates without external funding, a parent company, disclosed subsidiaries, or proprietary technology platform. Its competitive position rests on long-tenured brand owner relationships, a portfolio of licensable brand assets, and established retailer access (Walmart, Target, Amazon, Costco, QVC, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's). The firm has no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, patents, or certifications, and its competitive moat is therefore relational and creative rather than technological.
Earthbound firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Earthbound
- Legal name
- Earthbound llc
- Website
- https://earthboundbrands.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Earthbound is a New York-based brand management, product design, and licensing agency serving iconic consumer brands, mass-market retailers including Walmart, and celebrity brands across licensing, product development, and creative services since 1994.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Earthbound is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Earthbound business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Licensing Agency Services: Earthbound generates revenue by serving as a licensing agency for brands, managing brand extensions, negotiating deals, and overseeing licensing programs. This includes strategic brand extensions, deal negotiation, and day-to-day licensing management.
- Product Design and Development Services: The company provides end-to-end product design and development services including market research, concept development, trend analysis, product design (sketches, CADs, prototypes), supplier management, sourcing, and quality assurance. Revenue is generated through professional service fees.
- Creative/Brand Identity Services: Earthbound offers brand identity, creative direction, logo design, packaging design, and style guide creation services to brands seeking to evolve or establish their visual identity.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Earthbound product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Earthbound is a full-service B2B product, design, and licensing agency that helps iconic brands and mass-market retailers extend brand equity into new product categories. The firm operates three integrated service lines — strategic licensing (brand extensions, partner acquisition, deal negotiation), product design and development (concept through retail-ready, including CADs, prototypes, sourcing, and quality assurance), and creative services (brand identity, logo, packaging, and style guides) — and serves clients such as Honda, Hallmark, Ford, Girl Scouts, DuPont Kevlar, Better Homes & Gardens, and Sun-Maid.
Product overview
Earthbound is a product, design, and licensing agency that offers three integrated service divisions: Licensing (strategic brand extensions), Product Design and Development (innovative design and development from concept through quality assurance), and Creative Services (brand identity and design). The company works with major retail brands and retailers including private label management, helping clients navigate the complexities of the retail world through market research, trend analysis, product design, packaging, and brand strategy. Key client brands include Beautiful™ by Drew Barrymore, The Pioneer Woman, Better Homes & Gardens, Girl Scouts, DuPont™ Kevlar®, and Haute Hippie Home.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Licensing Services Strategic brand licensing services that help brand owners create strategic brand extensions and expand into new product categories through partnerships and licensing deals, including partner acquisition, deal negotiation, and ongoing program management.
- Product Design and Development Services Comprehensive product design and development services including market research, trend analysis, concept development, design roadmaps, sketches, CADs, prototypes, supplier relationships, sourcing, sample reviews, and quality assurance for brands and retailers.
- Creative Services Brand identity and design services including brand strategy, logo design, packaging design, photography direction, and style guide creation for brands seeking to evolve or establish their visual identity.
- Apparel Design and Development Translates trends into apparel collections for Women's, Plus Size, and Kids' brands including color, print and pattern design, and packaging, with over 2,000 styles designed per year across 18+ categories.
- Private Label Brand Management Works with retailers to manage private label brands through product design and development, including portfolio brands such as Terra & Sky, Time & Tru, and Wonder Nation for Walmart.
- Brand Creation for Retail Works with brand owners to design and develop products for retail distribution, leveraging design and development expertise to launch collections at retail.
- Collection and Category Creation Leverages Earthbound's expertise to design and develop products that help brands expand at retail through targeted category and collection creation.
Quantifiable outcome
- $500M+ retail sales achieved for Girl Scouts in first 3 years of licensing partnership
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Earthbound
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Earthbound technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Earthbound partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Sun-Maid GrowerscoreSun-Maid Growers, a Fresno-based farmer-owned cooperative known for its iconic raisin brand founded in 1912, partnered with Earthbound as its exclusive licensing agency. Earthbound will lead Sun-Maid's licensing strategy and expand the brand into new food, beverage, and lifestyle categories while maintaining Sun-Maid's traditional values and quality standards. This partnership marks Sun-Maid's effort to modernize and grow its brand presence after more than 100 years in the market.
- BRIX Holdings LLC (Friendly's)coreEarthbound Brands expanded its heritage food and beverage portfolio by partnering with BRIX Holdings LLC to exclusively represent all of the brands of BRIX, including Friendly's ice cream brand. This partnership strengthens Earthbound's position in the food & beverage licensing vertical.
- HondaflagshipEarthbound has over 25 years of experience working with Honda, having developed the brand's fashion and lifestyle licensing extensions. This flagship partnership demonstrates Earthbound's ability to extend automotive brands into consumer products.
- HallmarkflagshipEarthbound has over 25 years of experience working with Hallmark on brand licensing and extension programs. Hallmark is cited as one of the iconic brands in Earthbound's portfolio.
- FordflagshipEarthbound has over 25 years of experience working with Ford on brand licensing and extension programs. Ford is cited as one of the iconic brands in Earthbound's portfolio.
- DuPont™ Kevlar®flagshipEarthbound serves as the licensing agency for DuPont Kevlar, developing consumer products using the Kevlar brand. Partnerships include co-branded products with Samsonite (luggage), Reebok (footwear/apparel), Adidas (football cleats/lifestyle), and CrossFit. Generated $100M+ in retail sales in first year.
- Girl Scouts of the USAflagshipEarthbound developed comprehensive licensing strategy for Girl Scouts brand expansion into fashion, beauty, food, lifestyle, and toys categories. Partnerships include K-Swiss, Skippy, Hard Candy, homesick, Dairy Queen, and Native. Achieved $500M+ retail sales and 100k+ retail doors in first 3 years.
- SamsoniteminorEarthbound collaborated with Samsonite to launch a line of co-branded luggage and lifestyle bags with Kevlar. This was Samsonite's first licensed partnership in over 100 years of business.
- ReebokminorEarthbound partnered Reebok with DuPont Kevlar to develop co-branded footwear and apparel for the CrossFit program.
- AdidasminorEarthbound partnered Adidas with DuPont Kevlar to create co-branded football cleats and lifestyle footwear sold through retailers including Eastbay, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Foot Locker.
- Goose CreekminorGoose Creek x Girl Scouts candle collection partnership developed through Earthbound's licensing efforts.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Earthbound competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Corsearch: Corsearch provides brand protection and licensing intelligence services including trademark watching and royalty audit. It is an adjacent ecosystem player serving similar brand owners but on the protection/analytics side rather than as a licensing agency.
- Designworks (BMW Group): Designworks is a design consultancy owned by BMW Group that provides product, transportation, and brand design services. It overlaps with Earthbound's product design division but operates as a corporate-owned design studio rather than an independent agency.
- Lunar Design: Lunar Design is a product design and innovation consultancy providing industrial design and product development services. It is comparable to Earthbound's product design and development division as a competing independent design services provider.
Direct peers
- Brand Central: Brand Central is a full-service brand licensing and consulting agency serving corporate and entertainment brand owners across categories. Its licensing agency model, brand strategy services, and category coverage overlap directly with Earthbound's licensing division.
- Licensing Works!: Licensing Works! is a boutique licensing agency and consultancy that builds and manages licensing programs for brands across consumer products. It competes with Earthbound for similar corporate and celebrity brand mandates at the agency layer.
- Global Icons: Global Icons is a brand licensing agency representing entertainment, celebrity, and corporate brands across consumer products. Like Earthbound, it provides end-to-end licensing representation including strategy, partner sourcing, and retail support for marquee brand owners.
- Beanstalk: Beanstalk is a global brand licensing agency that manages brand extension programs for owners across consumer categories. It is the most directly comparable peer to Earthbound, offering licensing strategy, partner acquisition, and program management for Fortune 500 brands.
Broad incumbents
- Authentic Brands Group: Authentic Brands Group (ABG) is a large global brand owner and licensing platform managing a portfolio of 50+ brands including Reebok, Forever 21, and Brooks Brothers. It is an incumbent in the same licensing ecosystem as Earthbound, though it owns IP rather than representing other owners as their agent.
- WildBrain: WildBrain is a Canadian entertainment and licensing company managing IP including Peanuts, Teletubbies, and Strawberry Shortcake across consumer products. It is comparable to Earthbound as a brand licensing operator but operates at a much larger scale with owned entertainment IP.
- Iconix Brand Group: Iconix is a brand management company that owns and licenses a portfolio of consumer brands including Candie's, Joe Boxer, and Ocean Pacific. It operates in the same broader licensing space as Earthbound but as an IP owner rather than a licensing agent representing third-party brands.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Earthbound social profiles
Digital presenceEarthbound financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Earthbound leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Earthbound funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Earthbound M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Earthbound
What does Earthbound do?
Earthbound is a full-service B2B product, design, and licensing agency that helps iconic brands and mass-market retailers extend brand equity into new product categories. The firm operates three integrated service lines — strategic licensing (brand extensions, partner acquisition, deal negotiation), product design and development (concept through retail-ready, including CADs, prototypes, sourcing, and quality assurance), and creative services (brand identity, logo, packaging, and style guides) — and serves clients such as Honda, Hallmark, Ford, Girl Scouts, DuPont Kevlar, Better Homes & Gardens, and Sun-Maid.
Is Earthbound a public or private company?
Earthbound is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Earthbound founded?
Earthbound was founded in 1994. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Earthbound based?
Earthbound is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Earthbound make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Licensing Agency Services are the primary driver. The others are product Design and Development Services and creative/Brand Identity Services.
Who are Earthbound's main competitors?
Others on record are Corsearch, Designworks (BMW Group) and Lunar Design. Direct peers are Brand Central, Licensing Works!, Global Icons and Beanstalk. Broad incumbents are Authentic Brands Group, WildBrain and Iconix Brand Group.
Does Earthbound have an API?
No public API is recorded for Earthbound.