⚡ How a Yearbook Design Tool Became the Worlds Biggest Female Founded Start-Up

Morning Innovators ⚡ In less than 5 minutes, we’ll cover…

🥳 The best funding opportunities, events and jobs in the start-up world
📰 The biggest news stories in the start-up world
🎨 How a yearbook design tool became the worlds biggest female founded start-up
💅 How a fake nails company used a poster to go viral
👀 Our favourite start-up to keep an eye on this week
📽️ A tool to help you create video content from blogs

✨ Last weeks most clicked link was this link to the Founders Factory accelerator programmes.

Happy hustling,
Rich & Gary

🎤 Events/Opportunities

💸 We’re starting off with a biggie this week! Applications are now open for HubSpot’s Million Dollar Pitch competition! 🤤 This year, HubSpot For Start-ups are inviting applications from companies incorporated in the UK & Ireland, along with the US 🙌 Apply for the chance to be one of six incredible start-up leaders flown to HubSpot's annual INBOUND conference in Boston and pitch your business to a panel of top-tier judges. You will be considered for an investment of up to $1m from HubSpot Ventures!

💷 UnLtd are offering grant funding for social entrepreneurs. Check it out here.

🚀 If you’re a female tech founder, based in Wales and have a minimal viable product (MVP), apply now for the Female Founder Investor Readiness Programme. It’s a 6-month programme supported by the British Business Bank and aims to provide Welsh female tech founders with the skills, mentorship and support required to raise capital.

🐚 Shell are currently accepting applications for their 2024 StartUp Engine UK - an acceleration programme for early to mid-stage energy start-ups looking to develop their capabilities and power business growth within the smart energy landscape.

💼 Job opportunities

🛏️ E-Commerce Product Manager, Eight Sleep
🧑‍🎓 Junior Full Stack Developer, Joinrs
📈 Senior UI/UX Designer, Seedify

🤖 xAI, Elon Musk’s 10-month-old competitor to the AI phenom OpenAI, is raising $6 billion on a pre-money valuation of $18 billion. TechCrunch

🧶 Why Meta is looking to the fediverse as the future for social media. TechCrunch

🧑‍🦲 Nvidia-backed AI company Synthesia unveiled a new line of AI-generated digital avatars that are able to convey human emotions through user prompts. Yahoo Finance

🤝 Google will merge its AI safety team with its DeepMind division as it ramps up its focus on AI development. UKTN

🎨 Design Democratised: Canva's Journey from Fusion Books to Global Tech Titan

Imagine the world of design transformed—not by seasoned pros wielding advanced software, but by anyone, anywhere, simply clicking and creating. This vision, seemingly far-fetched, became the cornerstone of Canva, a platform that democratised design from a complex chore into everyday play. The journey of Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, the co-founders of Canva, encapsulates the essence of entrepreneurial grit and innovation. It's a story that begins not in a Silicon Valley incubator, but in a university classroom in Perth, Australia.

Before Canva became a household name in design, it was Fusion Books—an idea sparked by Melanie Perkins while teaching design at the University of Western Australia. Perkins noticed the overwhelming complexity and high costs of traditional design tools, which became the impetus for her to envision a simpler, more accessible approach. Fusion Books, aimed at streamlining the yearbook creation process, provided the perfect proving ground. This platform allowed students and schools to craft yearbooks with ease, using drag-and-drop tools and a suite of customisable templates.

Despite its niche focus, Fusion Books rapidly became the largest yearbook company in Australia, expanding even into New Zealand and France. The success was a testament to the underlying demand for simpler design tools—a demand that Perkins and Obrecht were ready to address on a global scale.

The transition from Fusion Books to Canva didn't happen overnight. After years of steady growth, Perkins and Obrecht envisioned something bigger—a platform that could make any aspect of design as easy as assembling a yearbook. The concept was ambitious: a design tool for non-designers, encompassing everything from presentations to social media graphics.

Securing funding for Canva proved to be a formidable challenge. Perkins faced over 100 rejections from venture capitalists, a soul-crushing gauntlet that tested her resolve. Yet, failure was not in her dictionary. Each rejection sharpened their pitch, refined their strategy, and strengthened their determination. The breakthrough came when Perkins met Bill Tai, a Silicon Valley investor, during a kitesurfing event—a unique networking opportunity that showcased her willingness to go the extra mile, quite literally.

With initial funding secured, including a significant grant from the Australian government, the focus shifted to building the Canva platform. Cameron Adams, a former Google engineer, joined as a co-founder, bringing technical expertise to the team. Together, they developed a user-friendly interface that embodied simplicity and functionality, allowing users to create professional-quality designs with minimal effort.

Canva’s launch in 2013 was a modest affair, but the platform quickly gained traction. Its intuitive design and broad utility appealed to a wide audience, from small businesses to educators and non-profits. The growth was organic and exponential; within months, Canva was not just a tool but a movement.

As Canva grew, so did its ambitions. The platform expanded its offerings, integrating millions of images, fonts, and templates that users could manipulate with drag-and-drop simplicity. Partnerships with stock photo providers and designers enriched the Canva library, making professional visuals accessible to all.

The freemium model proved highly effective. While the basic functionalities were free, Canva introduced premium tiers that offered more sophisticated tools and capabilities. This approach not only made design accessible but also built a sustainable revenue model that propelled Canva into the global market.

Today, Canva stands as a testament to the power of vision and perseverance. From its humble beginnings with Fusion Books to a multi-billion dollar enterprise, Canva has redefined the landscape of design. Its platform now supports millions of users across the globe, enabling them to create, collaborate, and share their visions with ease.

Are you a new founder launching a start-up? The process of getting your product launched can be long and costly, particularly for those without a technical co-founder.

This is where Verticode comes in. Specialising in building Minimum Viable Products for ideation stage founders, Verticode streamlines the journey from idea to MVP in just 2 weeks. Founders no longer need to raise VC funding to kickstart their vision; instead, Verticode offers a cost-effective solution, reducing development costs by up to 80% compared to competitors. Using cutting-edge technology like AI and proprietary templating, Verticode ensures high-quality MVPs, allowing founders to focus on building traction for their business. Trust Verticode to bring your start-up vision to life efficiently and affordably.

Ready to launch your MVP? Book an Intro Call today

🚨🚨 Also founders using code Uncensored5 will get a 5% discount!

Companies have been giving away free products, trials and tasters to get new customers for longer than I can even imagine. However, how often do they do it as creatively as Loste have here?

The alternative false nail company put a different version of their product on each strip of this perforated poster and encouraged their target audience to come along and take a set for free! They made a super simple video of people coming up and ripping a set of nails off each, with the video reaching over 1,500,000 views and collecting over 70,000 likes - I can’t even begin to imagine how many sales it generated them. Take a look at the video here.

How can you creatively give away tasters of your product to gain big social media traction?

Each week we’re featuring one start-up we love. We’d love this to come from community recommendations, so if you know a start-up doing something awesome who deserves a shout-out, please reply to this email. 

E-vittles operates as a food creation hub, specialising in turnkey food brands tailored for delivery services. It helps entrepreneurs to integrate new food options into their existing setups quickly and efficiently, enhancing revenue with minimal added costs. The platform supports kitchen operations by providing training, marketing, and technology solutions, aiming to optimise delivery and maximise profits. Their menu features diverse choices like Katsu Bowls, Burgers, and classic salads, with halal and vegetarian options available, catering to a broad market segment.

Each week we highlight our favourite tools - either something we’ve been using in our businesses, or tools that our innovator community have recommended.

CopyCopter is a generative AI-powered tool that simplifies the conversion of text into video content. It automates the process, allowing users to transform blogs, articles, and newsletters into engaging short videos with just one click. Users can personalise videos with a choice of 21 AI voices, customise visuals through a robust editor, and effortlessly integrate stock footage. Designed for content creators, it aims to enhance audience engagement and SEO with unique, faceless video content.

Next week we’ll be looking at how cars without passengers inspired a multi-billion dollar start-up. As usual we’ll also be highlighting our favourite start-up of the week, funding opportunities, and plenty of awesome tips, tricks and tools.

P.S. Connect with us on LinkedIn…