Starting in 2017, Funko had a great strategy to expand the business. They focused on Mariotti’s then plan of scoring as many licensing deals as they could, he was CEO back then and now he is the Creative head of the company. These licensing deals helped Funko to be a different brand that had unique collectibles that resonated with the public. They got licenses from the hottest TV Shows, Gaming Platforms, and Blockbuster movies and that led to a massive crowd outreach. People liked Funko Pops which was the top collectible of the company and they built on expanding their product base. Soon they included NFTs and apparel in their selling cart.

As the business expanded both for the collectible and other products they had in the hood, They soon crossed the threshold of $1.029 billion in 2021 in revenue. After 2021 the company had a new path to walk on. They had a projection of 20-25% growth for them. Andrew Palemetti the current CEO states that “We already know that the company is big but we want to build it bigger.” In the Toy Market, Funko is still a very small company compared to bigger names like Hasbro and Mattel which makes $6.4 billion and $5.4 billion per year in revenue. Funko however is quite a profit-making company in the Pop Culture business. They have put their moats on to track any unforeseen business theft. They are leading and acing the market stats in their product category.

Part of why Funko Pop stands apart from any generic pop culture company was because it had the right intent. Originally started by Mike Becker back in the 90s a coin enthusiast that wanted to make money off of decorating coins and selling them in China. Soon he tried making Bobblehead toys and it started happening on a mini scale. Puppets, Characters came to the fore. The collectibles had a unique look that appealed to the eyes as being Childish but it let people have that nostalgic feeling. Then the Company went to Mariotti who bought it from Becker who was interestingly also a Bobblehead maker and had a nightclub. One thing led to another and with good licensing deals after their first comic con, they made it big in the Pop Culture Market. With the current trends, there is a possibility they might also make it big in the Toy Market.

Becker laid the creative space of the collectible while Mariotti executed the expansion of the company. In Jan 2022, Mariotti stepped down as CEO of the company and now he is the Chief Creative Officer. I guess, after engineering a profit-making business model, and the company being stable, Mariotti will be pursuing his creative pursuits. Whatever it is, the future of Funko Pop looks bright.