A design studio for venture-backed startups designs the product, website and brand for a company that has raised institutional money and has a roadmap to show for it. Where the studios below state a price, it starts at $2,500 for a project (Synced) or $10,000 a month for a flat plan (Lived In Design), and Ramotion states a $50,000 minimum.
You closed the round. Now there's a board meeting, a hiring plan and a roadmap that promised a redesign by next quarter. Design hasn't kept up with the story you told investors. More money doesn't mean you need more design. It means you have a date.
We work with venture-backed startups too, so this list isn't ranked. Studios are in alphabetical order, us included, and nobody paid to be on it.
How we picked
A studio made the list if:
- its own site names venture-backed or funded startups, or Series A and later, as its clients
- it designs a product, a website or a brand
- it says how you buy: a project, a monthly plan or a quote
- it's a studio, not a solo freelancer
We left out freelancers, studios that name no funding stage and studios that say only "startups". Prices, ratings and client names come from each studio's own site or Clutch profile.
The eight studios at a glance
Two of the eight publish a price: Lived In Design and Synced. Ramotion states a $50,000 minimum on its site, and Fundabl Design, GRAFIT and Parallel set minimums on Clutch ($5,000+, $25,000+ and $10,000+). Hexcode and Phenomenon Studio publish none.
| Studio | Based | Best for | Price signal (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundabl Design | San Francisco | Fundraising decks, brand and a Webflow site | Clutch minimum $5,000+, $150 to $199/hr |
| GRAFIT | Warsaw, Poland | Web, brand and growth work in Webflow | Clutch minimum $25,000+, $100 to $149/hr |
| Hexcode (us) | Indore, India | Brand, site and product for funded teams | Not published |
| Lived In Design | Not stated | A flat $10,000 a month design team | $10,000/mo flat |
| Parallel | San Francisco and Bangalore | Teams from seed to Series B and beyond | Clutch minimum $10,000+, $50 to $99/hr |
| Phenomenon Studio | Tallinn, Lugano and Dover (USA) | Healthtech, edtech and SaaS product design | Not published |
| Ramotion | San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, per its footer | A larger studio for Series A and B platforms | Minimum $50,000 per project, $150 to $199/hr |
| Synced | Not stated on its site | Project sprints, then a subscription | Projects from $2,500, Brand Sprint $4,000, subscription $5,990/mo |
The numbers behind it
| Studio | Clutch | Named clients |
|---|---|---|
| Fundabl Design | 4.8 (3 reviews) | Atronous, Basic Capital, Mutiny, New Lantern |
| GRAFIT | 5.0 (28 reviews) | Callstack, Clay, Gentrace, Viktor |
| Hexcode (us) | Profile, no reviews yet | Serval, LlamaIndex, Riveter (YC F24), Haven, Drizz, Jooba |
| Lived In Design | No profile found | Knoetic, Moz, HoverAir, XBuild, Sparkplug |
| Parallel | 4.8 | UrbanPiper, Enchanting Travels, Inhouse |
| Phenomenon Studio | 5.0 (54 reviews) | Wisdom, Nomupay, Ready Player Fit |
| Ramotion | Profile exists, no rating shown | Netflix, Stripe, Descript, Flatfile |
| Synced | Not checked | Cluely, drae.ai, Interview Coder, Carlinker |
Figures from each studio's own site or Clutch profile, checked . "/mo" is a monthly fee. "Clutch minimum" is the minimum project size a studio sets on Clutch, not a quote. Named clients are ones the studio names on its own site.
Notes on each studio
Fundabl Design
Based in San Francisco, per its site. It calls itself the fundraising design partner and lists Series A, Series B and growth rounds among the stages it serves. It sells a Deck Sprint, two brand launch packages and a design subscription that covers decks, website design and Webflow development. It publishes no price. Clutch shows a $5,000+ minimum project size and 4.8 from 3 reviews. Its case studies cite Series A rounds for New Lantern and Basic Capital.
Good fit if: you're raising a Series A and want the deck, brand and site done by one small team.
Not a fit if: you want product design, which its packages don't list.
GRAFIT
A Warsaw agency, and a Webflow Enterprise Partner by its own site. It says its clients are backed by First Round, Sequoia and Y Combinator, and its services span web design, branding, motion and product video, Webflow development, CRO and SEO. It publishes no price. Clutch shows 5.0 from 28 reviews, a $25,000+ minimum project size and an Austin office as well as Warsaw.
Good fit if: you want an enterprise Webflow partner that also does growth work like CRO and SEO.
Not a fit if: your budget is well under its $25,000+ Clutch minimum.
Hexcode (us)
A 15-person studio in Indore, founded in 2020, with US overlap until 1pm PT. We work with startups from seed to Series B, and our clients page shows who backs them: Sequoia and Redpoint for Serval, Norwest and Greylock for LlamaIndex, and a16z for Haven. We run brand, website and product design in two-week sprints with a demo each Friday. We don't publish a price and have no Clutch reviews yet. See who we work with
Good fit if: you want one senior team across brand, site and product while you grow past the next round.
Not a fit if: you need a price and a Clutch rating before the first call.
Lived In Design
Its headline is design partner for funded startups, and it says a small senior team embeds with them. Its FAQ names B2B AI SaaS companies as its focus. It charges a flat $10,000 a month, and its page estimates $300K+ to hire a full-time designer and PM instead. It states no location. We found no Clutch profile.
Good fit if: you want a fixed monthly price for a senior designer and PM pod.
Not a fit if: you're not building B2B AI SaaS, which its FAQ names as its focus.
Parallel
Offices in San Francisco and Bangalore, per its site. Its homepage sorts its work into three stages: seed to Series A, Series B and beyond, and new bets inside big companies. It describes forward-deployed design and engineering teams and publishes no price. Its Clutch profile shows a $10,000+ minimum project size and a 4.8 rating.
Good fit if: you're past seed and want a team that can stay with you through Series B.
Phenomenon Studio
Offices in Tallinn, Lugano and Dover. Its homepage says it works with healthtech, edtech and SaaS teams, and with venture-backed startups and established market leaders alike. It says clients backed by YC, Techstars, a16z and others have raised $500M+. It publishes no price. Clutch shows 5.0 from 54 reviews, against 52 on its homepage.
Good fit if: you build in healthtech, edtech or SaaS and want a team that has worked in those sectors.
Ramotion
Offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Its startup UI/UX page says its pricing is tailored for venture-backed startups and growth-stage companies, and lists SaaS UX/UI as best for Series A and Series B software platforms. It states a $50,000 minimum per project and $150 to $199 an hour, with a typical full product engagement at $80,000 to $200,000+. It says its clients have secured over $1 billion in venture funding.
Good fit if: you've raised a Series A or B and want a larger studio with a long client list.
Not a fit if: your budget is under $50,000.
Synced
Its homepage says it is for pre-seed tech startups and above, with pre-seed founders buying projects and Series A to C growth teams taking the subscription. Projects start at $2,500, a Brand Sprint is $4,000, Website Launch is from $4,500 and the design subscription is $5,990 a month. It states no location, and we haven't checked its Clutch profile.
Good fit if: you're at Series A or later and want a design subscription you can start and stop.
How much studio do you need after a round?
Match the studio to the job, not to the size of the round. Ramotion states a $50,000 minimum per project, Lived In Design charges a flat $10,000 a month and Synced sells projects from $2,500. A bigger round doesn't change what you need first: something your next investor update can point at.
| Where you are | What fits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Just closed a seed or Series A | A short project on the site or one product flow | Redesigning everything before you have usage |
| A design lead, but no capacity | A monthly plan or an embedded team | A team that works outside your standups |
| Preparing for a Series B | A product and brand pass that matches your story | A site that claims more than the product does |
| Several products or teams | A larger studio with a design system | Paying for process you won't use |
Six questions to ask before you sign
- Which clients at my stage can I speak to, and who backs them?
- Who works on my account, and are they online for part of my day?
- What do the first four weeks produce, and what do I own at the end?
- Can I scale the team up or down as the roadmap changes?
- What would you not design yet, given where we are?
- How do you work with our in-house designers and engineers?
Questions
How much does a design studio cost for a venture-backed startup?
Published figures on this list start at $2,500 for a Synced project and $10,000 a month for Lived In Design's flat plan. Synced's subscription is $5,990 a month, Ramotion states a $50,000 minimum per project, and Fundabl Design, GRAFIT and Parallel set Clutch minimums of $5,000+, $25,000+ and $10,000+.
Should a funded startup hire a studio or a first designer?
A studio suits a defined push, like a redesign before a launch, and a hire suits ongoing ownership. Lived In Design's page estimates $300K+ to hire a designer and a PM full-time, against its flat $10,000 a month. Synced says Series A to C growth teams take its subscription.
Do studios work with Series A and B startups, or only seed?
Several here name later stages. Ramotion lists SaaS UX/UI as best for Series A and Series B platforms, Fundabl Design lists Series A, Series B and growth rounds, and Parallel groups Series B and beyond as a stage. Synced says Series A to C teams take its subscription.
Can one studio cover brand, website and product?
Some can. Hexcode runs brand, website and product design, Fundabl Design covers decks, brand and web, and GRAFIT covers web, branding and product video. Ramotion lists app design and branding among its services.
Can I start small before committing to a long engagement?
Yes, a few let you. Synced sells a two-week Brand Sprint at $4,000, and Hexcode works in two-week sprints. Lived In Design is a flat monthly fee, and Synced's subscription can be paused or cancelled any month.
Why isn't this list ranked?
Because we're on it. Ranking a list we compete in would tell you more about us than about the studios. So it's alphabetical, with the facts we could check.
Related
Spotted something wrong? Email shabbir@hexcode.design with a link and we'll fix it.
Closed the round and the clock is running?
Thirty minutes, no deck. Tell us what the next investor update has to show and we'll tell you what's worth designing first, even if the answer is one of the other seven.
Book a call