VWV Volumes #8: Co-director Asif Khan '21 talks about our recent investment in Projector
Why we're bullish on the future of design software
At Van Wickle Ventures, we recently invested in Projector, a browser-based, real-time collaborative design platform that enables both designers and non-designers to create powerful visual graphics. The platform, co-founded by Jeremy Gordon and Trevor O’Brien (Brown ‘10), aims to democratize the design process by making more people design-capable. We’re incredibly proud and excited to join their Series B round alongside investors from Upfront, Foundry Group, #Angels, Homebrew, and Mayfield, and wanted to share some insights into the company.
Projector’s Value Proposition
In order to create fresh and modern graphics, designers must either be proficient in Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop or use a platform like Canva, which does not have many of the design capabilities that millennials seek. While services like Squarespace, Shopify, and Figma offer amazing drag-and-drop online tools for web design and prototyping, the current millennial toolkit lacks a modern multimedia design software. We believe Projector fits right into that gap. It’s a platform built for the modern digital age. By making one powerful repository for visual communication, Projector can reduce back and forth between teams wanting to make small edits, make design more inclusive, and promote creativity across entire organizations. Here are some (definitely not all!) of the features we love and that the team at Projector is working on as we speak:
Drag and drop photos, text, and video (supported at 60 fps)
Custom WebGL graphics/rendering engine, which makes advanced graphical effects possible
Fresh and professional design templates
Live Sessions → browser-based online presentations that the user can control
Timeline-based editing features
Our Conviction
As millenials and Gen-Z continue to demand faster and easy-to-use technology for their workflows, we foresee a renaissance in applications that bundle creative processes and empower non-designers to achieve beautiful and proficient design without having to spend countless hours learning complex software or hiring expensive designers. Projector’s long-term vision is to reimagine visual communication, and we’re confident that they solve a major pain point for design-conscious millennials. We also have full confidence in Trevor and the rest of the Projector team to build a platform that brings people together, makes design more inclusive, and ultimately transforms how millennial brands approach design.
If you want to learn more, I would recommend reading this article about the genesis of Projector, reading their company blog, and checking out the product for yourself! We’re looking forward to partnering with Trevor and everyone at Projector, and can’t wait to see the impact that the platform will have on the design ecosystem.
- Asif Khan, Student Associate and Co-Director