What Idea Buyer does

Idea Buyer (legal entity: Idea Development LLC, dba IdeaBuyer.com) is a privately held end-to-end commercialization services firm headquartered in the Columbus/Akron, Ohio area, founded in 2007 by Eric Corl and acquired in 2020 by intellectual property law firm Gugliotta & Gugliotta, LPA. The firm serves individual inventors and startup entrepreneurs who lack the resources, expertise, or buyer relationships to bring novel products to retail. Its services span the full product-to-shelf lifecycle: idea evaluation and selection, intellectual property protection (with patent/trademark prosecution delivered via the parent law firm), branding, logo and marketing collateral development, app/web design and development, 3D renderings and package design, CAD-based product specifications, prototyping, manufacturer sourcing and quote negotiation, manufacturing management, retail buyer outreach and pitching, EDI/PLI setup, and post-launch marketing and trade-show support. An online marketplace platform also allows inventors to list ideas, patents, copyrights, and trademarks for sale or licensing, with interested parties contacting inventors directly through the website.

The business operates a selective, sales-led model: prospective entrepreneurs submit ideas through the website, the team analyzes fit across development dimensions, and qualified products are taken on under multi-year professional-services contracts structured as an upfront fee plus a contingent royalty on any subsequent licensing or sales revenue generated by the client product. Revenue is therefore a hybrid of fee-for-service work and a long-tail royalty participation stream. Products developed through the firm have been placed in major national retailers including Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Buy Buy Baby, Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy's, Tractor Supply Co., Amazon, and Zulily, across categories such as baby products, sporting goods, food, home improvement, automotive, and apps. The company reports working with over 1,000 entrepreneurs and helping launch over 2,000 products, with claimed customer outcomes exceeding $100M in combined funding, patent sales, licensing, and retail sales, and has been named to the Inc. 5000 three times (#197 in one ranking), with recognition from the White House and the US Chamber of Commerce and features in Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, CNBC, Bloomberg, and the New York Times. The firm employs 11–50 people and operates as an Ohio LLC.

Name

Idea Buyer

Legal name

Idea Development LLC

Website

https://ideabuyer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Idea Buyer is a privately held Ohio-based firm that helps individual inventors and startup entrepreneurs commercialize new products end-to-end—from IP protection and prototyping through manufacturing coordination and retail placement—earning upfront service fees plus contingent royalties on client product success.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Product Development Services: Idea Buyer provides research, development, and presentation services for entrepreneurs. They charge an upfront fee paid by the client plus a contingent fee (percentage of royalties obtained by the client if any).
2. Royalty Sharing: Idea Buyer earns a percentage of royalties obtained by clients when their products generate licensing or sales revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Idea Buyer is an end-to-end business development firm that helps entrepreneurs turn product ideas into commercially viable, retail-ready businesses. Its services span the full product lifecycle, including idea evaluation, intellectual property protection, branding, app/web development, 3D renderings, CAD-based prototyping, manufacturer sourcing and production management, retail buyer outreach, and ongoing marketing. The company also operates an online marketplace where inventors can list ideas, patents, copyrights, or trademarks for sale or licensing.

Product overview

Idea Buyer is an end-to-end business development firm that operates two integrated offerings: (1) a services portfolio covering the complete product development lifecycle from idea evaluation through retail distribution, including branding, patent/IP protection, app development, prototyping, manufacturing coordination, and marketing; and (2) an online marketplace platform enabling inventors to list ideas, patents, and technologies for sale or licensing. The company has worked with over 1,000 entrepreneurs since 2007 and features partner products across diverse categories including baby products (Romp & Roost, Petit Coulou), sporting goods (Rattle Reel, Bait-Up, Bully), home goods (Go Green Drains, HelpyHook, Sturdy Step), food products (Beach Bark, All My Fudge), apps (Funeral Vision), and industrial tools (Casey Tools, Electrician Buddy). Products are sold through major retailers including Walmart, Target, Cabela's, Bass Pro, Home Depot, Lowe's, Amazon, and Macy's.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Idea Buyer Business Development Services End-to-end business development service helping entrepreneurs turn product ideas into retail-ready businesses. Covers concept development, branding, IP protection, prototyping, manufacturing coordination, and retail distribution management.
• Online Marketplace Virtual marketplace platform allowing inventors to create listings for their ideas, patents, copyrights or trademarks for sale or licensing. Interested parties contact inventors directly through the website messaging system.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully brought over 1,000 ideas to market
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gugliotta & Gugliotta, LPAcoreOthersIntellectual property law firm that acquired Idea Buyer in 2020 after the original company closed. They operate the Idea Buyer website and provide patent and trademark services. The firm has been in business since 1994 and has handled over 3,000 patent applications.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Kickstarter: Largest reward-based crowdfunding platform, frequently used by independent inventors to validate and pre-sell products before retail launch. Adjacent channel that can substitute for Idea Buyer's retail outreach services.
• Indiegogo: Crowdfunding platform that has become a parallel go-to-market path for inventors launching consumer products. Not a direct competitor to Idea Buyer's services, but competes for the same inventor customer and retail demand-generation.

Direct peers

• Davison Design & Development: Long-established product development and invention services firm offering prototyping, patenting, and licensing support to inventors. Closely overlaps Idea Buyer's CAD, prototyping, and royalty-based service modules.
• InventHelp: Largest U.S. invention-services firm that helps independent inventors with idea submission, patent referral, prototyping, and marketing to manufacturers and licensees. Closest direct competitor to Idea Buyer's end-to-end commercialization model.
• Edison Nation: Invention-submission and licensing platform connecting independent inventors with major manufacturers and retailers. Operates a similar intake-to-retail pipeline that competes head-on with Idea Buyer.
• Invention Home: Invention marketing and product licensing company that evaluates, protects, and pitches inventor ideas to manufacturers and retailers. Directly comparable service scope and target customer (independent inventors).

Emerging players

• Product Development Technologies (PDT): Product design and development firm that takes concepts from idea through engineering, prototyping, and manufacturing support. Comparable on the CAD/prototyping/manufacturing-coordination service modules that Idea Buyer markets to inventors.
• HAX: Hardware-focused accelerator that takes early-stage hardware inventions from prototype through retail/consumer launch. Comparable on the prototyping-to-retail trajectory, but focused on higher-tech founders rather than solo inventors.
• Bolt (Bolt Hardware): Hardware product development accelerator that helps inventors move from prototype to manufacturing and retail. Overlaps with Idea Buyer's prototyping, manufacturing coordination, and retail distribution modules.

Broad incumbents

• Quirky: Historically prominent invention crowdsourcing and commercialization platform (now operating in a much reduced form). Addressed the same inventor-to-retail opportunity but at greater scale before its 2015 restructuring.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ideabuyercom
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCWUtw33LPLnvNaoG9xY9ZcA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/idea-buyer-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/ideabuyerllc
• Facebookfacebook.com/ideabuyer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Idea Buyer