DesignCrowd

About

DesignCrowd operates a design crowdsourcing marketplace connecting clients to 800,000+ freelance designers and BrandCrowd, a DIY logo library and editor offering one‑off downloads or subscription access.

Mission

DesignCrowd, founded in 2007 and based in Sydney, operates a design crowdsourcing marketplace and the complementary DIY platform BrandCrowd. BrandCrowd offers a library of exclusive logos (many bought upfront) plus a logo editor and DIY design tools. Customers can pay one-off fees to download logos or subscribe monthly or annually; many users use both DesignCrowd and BrandCrowd. The company leverages access to more than 800,000 designers to source and curate BrandCrowd’s library. DesignCrowd reported net revenues grew 54% year‑over‑year in 2020 and says BrandCrowd saw over five million sign‑ups in the past 12 months, with more than half of its revenue from the United States. Management plans to use new capital for hiring and product development to accelerate BrandCrowd’s growth and is preparing for a potential IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange. DesignCrowd is a marketplace that connects freelance designers with clients and potential projects. Founded in Sydney in 2007, the company operates offices in Sydney, a customer-service office in the Philippines, and a third office in San Francisco. It takes a 15 percent cut from designers and charges client fees, and it facilitated $20 million worth of projects in 2014, with about 75 percent of revenues coming from outside Australia. DesignCrowd plans to use the new funding to expand its presence in major English-speaking markets—primarily the U.S., Canada and the U.K.—and to scale sales and marketing globally. The company will double its five-person engineering team and its eleven-person customer-service team, hire additional staff in San Francisco, develop new technology, and improve customer service. Management also said it may pursue acquisitions to consolidate the market and has not ruled out a future public listing in Australia or raising capital from non-Australian VCs. DesignCrowd is an Australian crowdsourcing website that lets anyone post a design brief, set a deadline and budget, and invite the platform’s designers to submit work. Projects typically receive 25 to 100+ custom designs, and clients can give feedback and request changes before selecting a final design. The platform pays participating designers who do not win and prevents designers from seeing each other’s work until a project is completed to reduce copying and groupthink. Payments are transferred once a design is selected for use. The site has supported enterprise clients—Harvard Business School received 267 logo designs from 57 designers via the platform. DesignCrowd plans to use new funding for hiring, product development and expansion into the U.S.

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