Kittl, a Berlin-based startup, has just announced a successful Series B funding round, raising an impressive $36 million. This comes just one year after their initial funding of $11.6 million, with IVP leading the round once again. The company has been making waves with their intuitive and powerful graphic design tool, accessible through any web browser without the need for app installation.
When considering Kittl’s competition, two names immediately come to mind. Adobe, a longstanding industry leader with popular creative applications like Illustrator and Photoshop, and Canva, a newer player offering easy-to-use design tools at a lower price point. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Canva is currently in talks to raise a staggering $1.5 billion with a valuation of $26 billion.
In comparison to Adobe’s complicated and time-consuming exporting process, Kittl’s co-founder and CEO Nicolas Heymann explains, “If you just think about exporting something from Illustrator, it’s a headache”. And while Canva has made a name for itself in the market, Kittl offers a more robust feature set and lets users access the actual graphic file.
Heymann goes on to describe Kittl’s target market, saying, “As a designer, you usually use multiple tools”. From creating a graphic file, to sourcing inspiration on Pinterest, to sharing the final product with a client and getting feedback, the process is often disjointed and time-consuming. Kittl aims to streamline this process by providing a single, all-in-one design tool.
With a free account option and a subscription model for full access to all features, Kittl caters to a wide range of users. The platform offers a variety of design templates and a library of illustrations and copyright-free photos to assist users in creating logos, T-shirt designs, social media posts, and more. And with the ability to customize colors, add text, and export as both an image or vector file, Kittl offers a complete design solution.
The company has recently implemented AI-based features, including a background remover and image generator, powered by Stability AI’s and OpenAI’s APIs as well as their own proprietary technology. Heymann explains, “What that actually allows is that the designer can focus more on their actual work again”. By automating tedious tasks and allowing for more creative freedom, Kittl streamlines the design process for their users.
Kittl has quickly gained a user base of over a million, with B2B clients such as Netflix and Warner Bros. utilizing the platform internally. As other companies, like Figma, Canva, and PhotoRoom, have successfully challenged Adobe in the market, Kittl is yet another promising startup aiming to unbundle Adobe’s creative suite. Only time will tell how far they will go.
