What is 99designs?
99designs operates as the world's largest on-demand design marketplace, effectively bridging the gap between businesses of all sizes and a vast, global community of freelance designers. By providing a streamlined, user-friendly platform, the company facilitates the procurement of high-quality design work, ranging from logo creation and website development to full-scale branding packages. Headquartered in Oakland, California, with a robust international footprint spanning Australia, Brazil, Germany, and Japan, 99designs serves both B2B and B2C sectors. Its business model leverages the gig economy to provide scalable creative solutions, allowing companies to address complex design challenges while simultaneously empowering designers to build professional portfolios on a global stage.
How much funding has 99designs raised?
99designs has raised a total of $45M across 2 funding rounds:
Series A
$35M
Series B
$10M
Series A (2011): $35M with participation from Anthony Casalena, Stewart Butterfield, Gigwalk, and Accel
Series B (2015): $10M led by Accel Partners and Recruit Strategic Partners
Key Investors in 99designs
Accel Partners
A premier venture capital firm with a long history of supporting transformative technology companies, focusing on early and growth-stage investments.
Recruit Strategic Partners
A Silicon Valley-based venture capital arm of Japan's Recruit, specializing in strategic investments that provide industry expertise and global market access to U.S.-based startups.
Gigwalk
A brand intelligence platform that provides real-time data and retail execution insights, acting as a strategic partner in the broader gig economy ecosystem.
What's next for 99designs?
Following the recent strategic investment, 99designs is well-positioned to accelerate its product development and enhance its platform infrastructure. The focus is expected to shift toward deepening market penetration in key international territories and refining the user experience to better serve enterprise-level clients. By leveraging this capital, the company aims to further optimize its matching algorithms and expand its service offerings, ensuring it remains at the forefront of the digital creative industry. As the demand for agile, high-quality design continues to rise, 99designs is poised to capitalize on its established network to drive long-term value for both its freelance community and its diverse corporate clientele.
See full 99designs company page
