We don’t cover a lot in the ecommerce space here at PreSeed Now, because a lot of it is quite samey.

However, I was really taken by the approach today’s startup takes to providing value to independent design brands and consumers alike. Read on to discover more about Design Snitch.

But first:

• ‘A Brief Coffee With…’ is well-known tech PR agency founder Cathy White’s podcast interview series. In last week’s episode, she interviewed me about PreSeed Now and my wider work in the tech industry.

• We talked about challenges facing early-stage startups, trust in modern media, and much more.

• Find it on Spotify here or across other platforms here.

– Martin

Design Snitch wants to give independent brands a better way to grow

There’s no shortage of places to find designer homeware, art, and lifestyle items online but that doesn’t mean the market is serving designer brands and their customers perfectly.

“Brands are finding it more difficult as time goes by to stand out in the busy world of online shopping and discovery. It takes so long for consumers to find brands now, and it's almost an impossible task to discover some of these great brands. And consumers find it extremely challenging to find products now. There are just too many out there” says Andrew Waldron.

Waldron’s solution to these problems is to launch… another place to find designer brands online. But he’s gone about it in an interesting way with Design Snitch.

Design Snitch works with independent design brands, but it only sells exclusive items from each brand that aren’t for sale anywhere else. And they’re aiming for a high bar of quality and relevance to the types of consumers they’re targeting.

“One of the reasons we exist is to answer the issue of discoverability for independent brands (with products) that are beautifully designed and beautifully made. We want to make it a lot easier for the consumer to find them,” Waldron says.

“We don't want this to ever be an open-floodgate policy, where we just let anyone and everyone in to upload their products and start selling. That's really important. We're around about an 8% approval rate for our applications at the moment.”

In practice, this looks like everything from designer prints, to classy lamps, to the kinds of arty furniture pieces that would suit, say, the apartment of a successful VC who wants to show off their taste.

The story so far

Unlike most founders we feature on PreSeed Now, Waldron doesn’t have a background in the space he’s tackling here. Instead he has previously largely worked in sales roles, including a stint at Tesla when the company launched in the UK.

He says he always wanted to start his own business, but only when the timing and the model were right, and the idea was right for him.

The concept for Design Snitch began as a platform just for art, but Waldron quickly discovered it could work more broadly.

“I did a lot of research around Birmingham where I'm from, talking to a lot of high-level artists, understanding their issues with opening doors, getting their name out there. I quickly found out that those issues were across multiple categories, and it wasn't just art… I sat back from the idea and let it grow into what Design Snitch is now,” he says.

“That initial research was absolutely priceless for determining what model would work for brands and how we would answer the consumer issues and discoverability questions in the market, as well.”

Waldron says they kicked things off with promoted posts on Instagram, calling out for brands to apply for a place on the platform. He says hundreds of brands responded and 30 were selected to be part of the initial launch.

“One of the great things about this model is because brands are incentivised to share their exclusive works (for sale on Design Snitch) because they’re not for sale on their own channels, they do that at least once per month. That generates a lot of organic traffic… Each brand that we onboard is almost its own distribution channel in itself,” he says.

Waldron is currently the only full-time member of the Design Snitch team, with others working part-time on marketing, product, and partnerships.

Design Snitch has a target to onboard 150 brands by the end of the year. It’s also working on a subscription fee that brands will pay to get additional PR and promotion. Waldron says this is being held back until the company is “bringing a lot of value to the party.”

Design Snitch is working on version two of its platform, which Waldron says due for release in the autumn.

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