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Since its launch in November 2021, Relume has bootstrapped instead of accepting investments in the current wave of generative AI breakthroughs, which has raised $14 billion in equity funding as of August.
“We are focusing on building a product we can sell. Bootstrapping helps us build a better product, Relume co-founder Dan Anisse told .
Sydney-based Relume began as a component library for Webflow and Figma, offering over 1,000 customizable blocks of content, nav bars, footers, and other elements that can be reused across a website. After ChatGPT went global late last year, the Relume team, like many other productivity tools, considered how AI could improve it.
Relume added generative AI to its web design platform in August. If one enters a text prompt to describe a website, such as “XYZ is a food delivery app that brings local farm produce to your doorstep on the same day,” its AI can quickly sketch out an editable and clickable sitemap.
Next, switch from “sitemap” mode to “wireframe” mode to see the site in action. Relume’s algorithms can automatically add library components to the wireframe and let users move them. Users already have a working website.
Relume uses OpenAI’s large language model to train its web-building AI for quick interpretation. As the text matches the site code, the AI can convert it into a visual wireframe in real time.
Relume has 54,000 users, 10,000 of whom joined after the AI feature launch two weeks ago. The platform, created by a small team of seven from Canva and early-stage startup builder Antler, has a 90% retention rate, according to Anisse. The company targets individuals, freelancers, and web design agencies with a $32/month plan to “get up to ten websites a month instead of three.”
Relume empowers designers, not replaces them. “We are giving [designers] 70% of the project, but 30% must be done manually,” Anisse said. “We do most of the heavy lifting. The remaining 30% is creating the style guide, which involves human decisions about font, background, color, images, etc.
The fine-tuning happens on Figma and Webflow. A web plug-in syncs Relume projects to the two popular web-building tools in a compatible format, allowing users to edit button shapes and colors.
Web design tools are embracing generative AI, from Wix to Universe. Anisse said Relume builds on established design systems while its competitors want to overthrow them. The startup can reach a large user base by joining mature ecosystems, but dominant players can cut off access at any time.
“It’s a strategic choice,” the founder said, adding that Webflow’s CEO tweeted about Relume.
Wow, this is absolutely incredible – huge props to the @relume_io team for bringing these amazing AI superpowers to more Webflow visual developers! https://t.co/t20gS5OTqX
— Vlad Magdalin (@callmevlad) August 7, 2023
“Anything is possible with a significant amount of resources and engineering,” Anisse said of copycats. He’s not worried because “our moat is our strong community who likes what we are doing and the fact that competitors will have to manually build a component library from scratch and train it.”
Nearly 4,500 Relume Slack members discuss job openings, post projects for feedback, and share design agency tips.
While not currently seeking funding, Relume is open to external funding that “serve us the best strategically” and “understand how design platforms work,” said Anisse.
