Our 2017 Investments in Design Innovation
This year, we’ve focused on assisting the growth of our portfolio. With 9 investments including multiple follow-ons, we’ve continued to support mission-driven teams who solve problems in markets that traditionally lack design innovation like financial services, health, and business tools. We’re thrilled to back Stripe’s international growth as they process tens of billions of dollars in payments, fight diabetes with Omada as they expand coverage with a $50M round led by Cigna, and support nearly 1% of all small businesses in the country with Gusto. Many of our portfolio companies also participated in our Bridge program in 2017, where we helped them design world-class products and scale their design teams.
Better is helping simplify health insurance claims.
This year, one of the companies we added to the Designer Fund family was Better. Better is tackling the complexity of the healthcare industry by providing a new, simple solution for people to get reimbursed on their out-of-pocket expenses. They launched publicly this year, and have already helped process and forgive millions of in medical debt to date. Better was also recently named one of 2017’s top apps by Fast Company.
We also made multiple follow-on investments including Hustle, Netlify, Podia, Abstract, and Framer and celebrated the acquisition of Moxxly by Olle Larsson. Olle Larsson is one of the largest makers of breast pumps and accessories in the world, and the acquisition gives the Moxxly team the resources and support to continue to execute on their ambitious goals to redesign the breast pump experience.
Big product updates from the Framer team.
Across the board, we’ve been proud to see the traction and progress that our portfolio companies have made in the last year. Here are some notable highlights:
- Stripe is rapidly expanding internationally and launched in New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.
- Remix continue to make a significant impact in the transportation industry with new features. Their work was recently featured in a profile in the Wall Street Journal.
- Abstract launched a public beta and raised a round with Cowboy Ventures.
- Netlify continues to grow adoption and raised a $12M Series A round from a16Z.
- Hustle announced their $8M Series A and continues to grow as a category-defining communications platform. Recently, Hustle was used to contact 20% of the Alabama electorate and had a significant impact in the Senate race.
- Omada announced a $50M round lead by Cigna, one of the top 5 insurance providers in the U.S., which will be growing their partnership with Omada by adding Omada to Cigna’s suite of health improvement services.
- Framer raised a $7.7M round led by Accel and launched a series of massive product updates throughout the year. Most notably, Framer is taking a huge step in making it easier for designers to build with Framer Design.
There are some exceptional opportunities to join the growing teams at our portfolio companies. If you’re looking for a new role where you can make a difference with design, check out the following:
- Gusto is hiring a senior product designer.
- Omada Health is hiring a product designer.
- Stripe is hiring for a range of design management and IC roles.
- Framer is hiring a product designer.
- Netlify is hiring a brand & web designer.
- Remix is hiring a product designer.
Congratulations to all our teams for bringing better-designed products and services into the world. We look forward to having a more positive impact together in 2018.
- Enrique Allen, Ben Blumenfeld and the Designer Fund team