DesignCrowd
Company type | Proprietary Limited |
---|---|
Industry | Graphic design, Crowdsourcing |
Founded | Sydney, Australia (2008 ) |
Founder | Alec Lynch (CEO), Adam Arbolino (CTO) |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | Australia, Philippines, United States |
Website | www |
DesignCrowd is an online crowdsourcing platform founded in 2008 by Alec Lynch and Adam Arbolino.[1] DesignCrowd has 500,000+ graphic designers signed up, from 124 countries,[2] who outsource or crowdsource logo, website, print and digital design to businesses around the world.
Company history
DesignCrowd was started in a garage in Sydney, Australia. Alec Lynch is the Chief Executive Officer of DesignCrowd and Adam Arbolino is the company's Chief Technology Officer. Chris McNamara is the Chief Operating Officer[1].
In late 2007, Alec Lynch and Adam Arbolino began working on the DesignCrowd idea and subsequently launched the platform in January 2008.[3] Lynch has been recognised as a founder of the design crowdsourcing concept.[4]
Investment and financial results
In 2009, DesignCrowd raised capital from a team of private angel investors in Australia, totalling AU$300,000.[5]
In 2011, the company received $3 million in investment from Starfish Ventures.[6]
The company obtained a further $3 million from Starfish Ventures in 2013[7] (a total of A$6.3 million[8]), allowing it to expand significantly. Further business services were subsequently launched in the UK,[9] Canada,[10] Singapore, India, the Philippines[11] and New Zealand,[12] with additional offices opening in San Francisco and Manila.[13][14]
In early 2015 the company closed a $6M Series B round led by new Australian venture capital firm AirTree Ventures with participation from existing investor Starfish Ventures.[15][16][17]
On December 20, 2011, DesignCrowd acquired Brandstack,[18] a stock logo template marketplace where users are able to buy and sell logo templates and domains. Following the acquisition, Brandstack's name was changed to "BrandCrowd."[19] Alec Lynch is also the CEO of BrandCrowd. As of March 2013, BrandCrowd constitutes approximately five to ten per cent of the DesignCrowd revenue.[20]
From 2010 to 2012, the company’s revenue grew by 500 per cent.[20] Alec Lynch was also quoted as saying that crowdsourcing demand from small businesses doubled since 2012.[20]
DesignCrowd states that its next goal is to become a leading crowdsourcing provider in the US market and expand its business from $10 million to $100 million. As of 2013, the US market represents approximately 40 per cent DesignCrowd sales.[21]
In 2014, DesignCrowd announced that it had acquired community design contest website Worth1000 for an undisclosed amount.[22]
In July 2014, DesignCrowd has reported an annual turnover of over $10 million.[23]
In October 2015, DesignCrowd revealed it had passed $30 million in completed projects and the company was approaching $20 million in annual revenue.[24]. The company went on to announce in February 2016 that it now had more than 500,000 designers working on the platform.[25] Lynch also said the company was experiencing 20 per cent growth in the British market, 19 per cent in the US and 18 per cent in the EU.[26] Designer Anand Thangavel was recognized as the first person to earn more than $1million on through working on DesignCrowd in July, 2016.[27]
Notable projects
DesignCrowd has completed crowdsourcing projects for the following brands: Amnesty International, ESPN,[28] Sprite, the Sydney Morning Herald,[29] HTC One,[30] Microsoft Office,[31] Panasonic,[32] UNICEF,[33] Harvard Business School,[34] TimesSquare.com,[35] former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,[36] Virgin HealthMiles[37] and the Showtime TV series Dexter.[38]
DesignCrowd is also known for hijacking news and trends with crowdsourcing design competitions. Noteworthy past competitions have been related to: "Kim Jong-un's hair style";[39] the 2014 FIFA World Cup;[40] the Yahoo! logo;[41] the logo for Manchester United F.C.;[42] and the 21st Century Fox logo.[43]
In October 2015, DesignCrowd released a series of Photoshopped pictures of Donald Trump in horror movie scenes[44] and politicians with man buns,[45] with both receiving huge media attention. A series of images from DesignCrowd were posted in June 2016 showing United States Presidential candidates reimagined as Game of Thrones Characters.[46]
Awards and achievements
- Finalist in the CeBIT Innovation Awards Australia, 2012[47]
- Alec Lynch named Anthill's 30under30 Winner, 2012[48]
- Alec Lynch named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner, 2014 (Eastern Region - Category: Emerging)[49]
- DesignCrowd ranked #22 in Deloitte's TechFast50 2014 rankings[50]
- DesignCrowd wins Anthill's 'Big Kahuna' Award 2014[51]
- DesignCrowd ranked #38 in Deloitte's TechFast50 2015 rankings[52]
- DesignCrowd ranked #319 in Deloitte's 2015 Technology Fast 500 rankings[53]
References
- ^ a b "About DesignCrowd". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "DesignCrowd reaches half a million designers in 124 countries". CSO. 4 March 2016.
- ^ Hall, Phil (30 September 2013). "Alec Lynch, co-founder and CEO of DesignCrowd, Sydney, Australia". Business Superstar. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Bailey, Michael (7 March 2016). "DesignCrowd dominance highlights our marketplace hub". AFR. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Simon, Phil (30 October 2013). "Crowdsourcing Design: An Interview with DesignCrowd Founder Alec Lynch". Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Moses, Asher (3 November 2011). "Aussie tech gold rush: 'nothing off limits'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Hutchinson, James (12 November 2013). "Graphic design start-up DesignCrowd chases global expansion". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Reich, Dan (11 November 2013). "Startup CEO: Would You Max Out Three Credit Cards To Start A Business?". Forbes. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "DesignCrowd Launches UK Crowdsourcing Service" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "DesignCrowd Launches Canadian Crowdsourcing Service" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Hammond, Michelle (26 October 2012). "Crowdsourcing venture DesignCrowd makes first foray into Asia". StartupSmart. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Foo, Fran (12 November 2013). "DesignCrowd set to join creative titans". The Australian. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Baily, Michael (24 April 2014). "DesignCrowd opens first overseas office in Manila, with San Francisco to follow". BRW. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Carmody, Broede (24 April 2014). "DesignCrowd COO tells why the $10 million business is expanding overseas". SmartCompany. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Russell, Jon (4 February 2015). "DesignCrowd Raises $6M To Grow Its Creative Marketplace In The West". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ Griffith, Chris (5 February 2015). "Graphics start-up snares $6m". The Australian. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ Fitzsimmons, Caitlin (5 February 2015). "DesignCrowd raises $6m in series B round: why co-founder Alec Lynch is glad it did not come from US venture capitalists". Business Review Weekly. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ Greg Kumparak, "Brandstack Pulled From The Deadpool, Acquired By DesignCrowd", "Techcrunch"
- ^ Michelle Hammond. "DesignCrowd Acquires Brandstack, Launched BrandCrowd" "StartUp Smart"
- ^ a b c Khoo, Valerie (14 March 2013). "Anatomy of a startup - the DesignCrowd story". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Hong, Kaylene (11 November 2013). "DesignCrowd takes on 99Designs in the US, seeking to grow its crowdsourced design business tenfold". The Next Web. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Kennedy, Stuart (17 June 2014). "DesignCrowd reckons deal worth wait". The Australian. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Carmody, Broede (24 April 2014). "DesignCrowd COO tells why the $10 million business is expanding overseas". StartupSmart. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Swan, David (13 October 2015). "DesignCrowd hits $30m milestone". The Australian. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ "DesignCrowd reaches half a million designers in 124 countries". Computer World. 4 March 2016.
- ^ Adhikari, Supratim (23 February 2016). "DesignCrowd extends global reach". The Australian.
- ^ Anderson, Cathy (05 July 2016). "Meet The $1m Man Who's Making A Killing From Freelancing". The Huffington Post.
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(help) - ^ "footytips.com.au Logo Refresh". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Sydney Morning Herald 'Safer Sydney' Ad Challenge Poster Design Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Global Brand HTC One - Billboard Design". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Microsoft Office 365 design project". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Panasonic Insider Community". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ^ "Banner creative". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ^ "Harvard Business School forum crowdsources logo" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "TimesSquare.com $10,000 Logo Competition". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Kevin Rudd Crowdsources T-Shirt Design Online" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Virgin T-shirt Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Dexter Design Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "DesignCrowd designers photoshop images of Kim Jong-un's hairstyle onto celebrities, hilarity ensues". news.com.au. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Sabin, Jo (25 June 2014). "25 Photo Hacks and Memes from the 2014 FIFA World Cup". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Yahoo! Logo Redesign Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Lepitak, Stephen (25 June 2013). "Manchester United logo design winner chosen following unofficial DesignCrowd competition". The Drum. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Faull, Jennifer (29 May 2013). "Left unimpressed by new 21st Century Fox logo? DesignCrowd suggests members of the public submit a redesign". The Drum. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Donald Trump Photoshopped Into Horror Movie Scenes Is Terrifying And Hilarious". mtv.com. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ^ "Politicians And World Leaders With Man Buns And Top Knots". huffingtonpost. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ "Presidential Candidates Reimagined as Game of Thrones Characters Are the Best Things You'll See This Week". People Magazine. 05 June 2016. Retrieved 05 June 2016.
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and|date=
(help) - ^ "CeBIT.AU Business Awards Finalists". CeBIT. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ Mote, Christopher (6 October 2012). "Alec Lynch, 2012 Anthill 30under30 Winner". Anthill Online. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Top entrepreneurs honoured at Sydney awards night". Ernst & Young. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
- ^ "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Winners' report". Deloitte. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ "Meet DesignCrowd, Anthill 2014 Cool Company Award WINNER [Big Kahuna]". Anthill Online. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Winners' report" (PDF). Deloitte. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ "Deloitte 2015 Technology Fast 500 report" (PDF). Deloitte.