DesignCrowd

DesignCrowd Pty Ltd
Proprietary Limited
Industry Graphic design, Crowdsourcing
Founded Sydney, Australia (2008 (2008))
Founder Alec Lynch (CEO), Adam Arbolino (CTO)
Headquarters Sydney, Australia
Number of locations
 Australia, Philippines, United States
Website www.designcrowd.com

DesignCrowd is an online crowdsourcing platform founded in 2008 by Alec Lynch and Adam Arbolino.[1] DesignCrowd has 450,000[1] graphic designers signed up, from 165 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] and Dan Ferguson is the Chief Marketing Officer.[3]

In late 2007, Alec Lynch and Adam Arbolino began working on the DesignCrowd idea and subsequently launched the platform in January 2008.[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, 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." Alec Lynch is also the CEO of BrandCrowd. As of March 2013, BrandCrowd constitutes approximately five to ten per cent of the DesignCrowd revenue.[18]

From 2010 to 2012, the company’s revenue grew by 500 per cent.[18] Alec Lynch was also quoted as saying that crowdsourcing demand from small businesses doubled since 2012.[18]

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.[19]

In 2014, DesignCrowd announced that it had acquired community design contest website Worth1000 for an undisclosed amount.[20]

In July 2014, DesignCrowd has reported an annual turnover of over $10 million.[21]

In October 2015, DesignCrowd announced it had passed $30 million in completed projects and the company was approaching $20 million in annual revenue.[22]

Notable projects

DesignCrowd has completed crowdsourcing projects for the following brands: Amnesty International, ESPN,[23] Sprite, the Sydney Morning Herald,[24] HTC One,[25] Microsoft Office,[26] Panasonic,[27] UNICEF,[28] Harvard Business School,[29] TimesSquare.com,[30] former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,[31] Virgin HealthMiles[32] and the Showtime TV series Dexter.[33]

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";[34] the 2014 FIFA World Cup;[35] the Yahoo! logo;[36] the logo for Manchester United F.C.;[37] and the 21st Century Fox logo.[38]

In October 2014, DesignCrowd released a series of Photoshopped pictures of Donald Trump in horror movie scenes[39] and politicians with man buns,[40] with both receiving huge media attention.

Awards & Achievements

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About DesignCrowd". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Magdirila, Phoebe (24 April 2014). "Crowdsourcing marketplace DesignCrowd expands to Philippines, aims to woo small businesses". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Executive Profile - Dan Ferguson". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Hall, Phil (30 September 2013). "Alec Lynch, co-founder and CEO of DesignCrowd, Sydney, Australia". Business Superstar. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Simon, Phil (30 October 2013). "Crowdsourcing Design: An Interview with DesignCrowd Founder Alec Lynch". Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Moses, Asher (3 November 2011). "Aussie tech gold rush: 'nothing off limits'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Hutchinson, James (12 November 2013). "Graphic design start-up DesignCrowd chases global expansion". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Reich, Dan (11 November 2013). "Startup CEO: Would You Max Out Three Credit Cards To Start A Business?". Forbes. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "DesignCrowd Launches UK Crowdsourcing Service" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "DesignCrowd Launches Canadian Crowdsourcing Service" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Hammond, Michelle (26 October 2012). "Crowdsourcing venture DesignCrowd makes first foray into Asia". StartupSmart. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Foo, Fran (12 November 2013). "DesignCrowd set to join creative titans". The Australian. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  13. ↑ Baily, Michael (24 April 2014). "DesignCrowd opens first overseas office in Manila, with San Francisco to follow". BRW. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  14. ↑ Carmody, Broede (24 April 2014). "DesignCrowd COO tells why the $10 million business is expanding overseas". SmartCompany. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Russell, Jon (4 February 2015). "DesignCrowd Raises $6M To Grow Its Creative Marketplace In The West". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Griffith, Chris (5 February 2015). "Graphics start-up snares $6m". The Australian. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. 1 2 3 Khoo, Valerie (14 March 2013). "Anatomy of a startup - the DesignCrowd story". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ Kennedy, Stuart (17 June 2014). "DesignCrowd reckons deal worth wait". The Australian. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Carmody, Broede (24 April 2014). "DesignCrowd COO tells why the $10 million business is expanding overseas". StartupSmart. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  22. ↑ Swan, David (13 October 2015). "DesignCrowd hits $30m milestone". The Australian. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "footytips.com.au Logo Refresh". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  24. ↑ "Sydney Morning Herald 'Safer Sydney' Ad Challenge Poster Design Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  25. ↑ "Global Brand HTC One - Billboard Design". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  26. ↑ "Microsoft Office 365 design project". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  27. ↑ "Panasonic Insider Community". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  28. ↑ "Banner creative". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  29. ↑ "Harvard Business School forum crowdsources logo" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  30. ↑ "TimesSquare.com $10,000 Logo Competition". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  31. ↑ "Kevin Rudd Crowdsources T-Shirt Design Online" (Press release). PRWire. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  32. ↑ "Virgin T-shirt Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  33. ↑ "Dexter Design Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  34. ↑ "DesignCrowd designers photoshop images of Kim Jong-un’s hairstyle onto celebrities, hilarity ensues". news.com.au. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  35. ↑ Sabin, Jo (25 June 2014). "25 Photo Hacks and Memes from the 2014 FIFA World Cup". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  36. ↑ "Yahoo! Logo Redesign Contest". DesignCrowd. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  37. ↑ Lepitak, Stephen (25 June 2013). "Manchester United logo design winner chosen following unofficial DesignCrowd competition". The Drum. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  38. ↑ 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.
  39. ↑ "Donald Trump Photoshopped Into Horror Movie Scenes Is Terrifying And Hilarious". mtv.com. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  40. ↑ "Politicians And World Leaders With Man Buns And Top Knots". huffingtonpost. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  41. ↑ "CeBIT.AU Business Awards Finalists". CeBIT. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  42. ↑ Mote, Christopher (6 October 2012). "Alec Lynch, 2012 Anthill 30under30 Winner". Anthill Online. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  43. ↑ "Top entrepreneurs honoured at Sydney awards night". Ernst & Young. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  44. ↑ "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Winners' report". Deloitte. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  45. ↑ "Meet DesignCrowd, Anthill 2014 Cool Company Award WINNER [Big Kahuna]". Anthill Online. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  46. ↑ "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Winners' report" (PDF). Deloitte. Retrieved 20 November 2015.

External links

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