What we do

We believe entrepreneurs and designers are best placed to solve the world’s most challenging problems. That’s why we partner with early-stage founders who want to make the world a better place and are unafraid to challenge the status quo.

As founders ourselves, we’re accustomed to working under high levels of uncertainty. We recognise untapped opportunities are often lurking in the unknown. Venture design is our approach for identifying and exploiting the highest potential ideas.

How we add value

Translate early ideas into tangible product concepts
Find unsolved customer problems
Rapidly explore solutions
Validate concepts with real customers
Put shape on a unique value proposition
Prototype a minimum desirable product
Create a distinctive brand and product experience
Help raise initial funding

Translate your initial ideas into tangible product concepts
Examine an opportunity space to find unsolved problems
Rapidly explore a broad range of potential solutions
Validate concepts with real customers
Shape a distinctive value proposition
Prototype a minimum desirable product
Create a unique brand and product experience
Help raise initial funding

"My partnership with Berst has been like having on-demand access to the co-founder I never had. James is deeply invested in my business and is always there to support when I need it—whether that’s visioning something, sense checking, getting hands on with some key design work, or just a well timed bit of confidence boosting! I’m not sure where I’d still be on this journey without them."

Jonathan Garner, Founder & CEO, Mind over Tech

Got a hunch about the next big thing?

Let's talk Or see some or our Founder projects

We love using our experience to guide startups through significant moments of growth. Think of us as an interim design team that gets down in the trenches and supercharges you and your team.

For pre-seed teams, this could be zeroing-in on a distinctive brand and product experience. Or even raising your first seed round. For later stage companies, unifying your growing team around purpose, vision and strategy. Or exploring new areas of market opportunity.

How we add value

Get you to market faster
Guide you towards true product-market fit
Develop distinctive brand language and product experiences
Identify untapped opportunities for innovation
Prototype your next big release
Build internal design capability
Partner on your next investment round

Spotted an opportunity to accelerate your growth?

Let's talk Or see some or our Startup projects

We want to bring the spirit of a startup into your organisation. By freeing employees from entrenched processes, we give them confidence to challenge status quo and explore new opportunities.

Our team gives you the help you need to scout, prototype, and validate new ventures, using fresh, entrepreneurial thinking and then unite teams around a shared vision.

How we add value

Find new opportunities for innovation and spin outs
Prototype new business ideas & pivots
Build the business case for innovation
Validate new ideas with the target market
Grow internal design and entrepreneurial expertise
Respond to big market shifts and mergers
Balance innovation and improvement

Know where design could add value?

Let's talk Or see some or our projects for Leaders

Investors play a pivotal role in backing companies who want to make real change in society. We’re excited to work with purpose-driven teams, seeking a positive societal impact alongside financial return.

Using design thinking and doing we guide promising portfolio companies through pivotal moments, stacking the odds of success in their favour and helping you realise the potential in your portfolio.

How we add value

Bring clarity and confidence on where to focus
Add design expertise into early stage companies that lack dedicated resources
Build a culture of continuous design and customer thinking
Spot new opportunities for innovation, pivots and growth
Accentuate unfair advantage and unique value
Prepare for the next investment round
Advise on new investment opportunities
Identify underserved markets and latent needs
Carry out ‘design due diligence’ on potential investments

"Love partnering with Berst. It’s super rare to find a design team who can understand business needs and create high quality solutions at such high pace."

Sagi Shorrer, serial entrepreneur and angel investor.

Know where design could add value?

Let's talk Or see some or our projects with Investors

How we work

We combine the spirit of a startup with the creativity of a design studio. This means we work fast and build momentum behind new ideas. It also means we think deeply about the problems we solve, and bring original thinking to each solution.

We spot unmet needs with the potential for rapid growth

Untapped opportunities are everywhere if you know where to look. We help you find and capitalise on them.

We test new concepts with future customers

Life is too short to build solutions for problems that nobody has. Let’s get real and find out if new ideas really meet the demands of the market.

We design exceptional product experiences

Today’s markets are drowning in choice. To cut through the clutter, we create products that not only solve problems but also captivate your audience.

We partner on pivotal moments of growth

The journey from startup to company is a wild ride. We’ve helped pre-seeders, scale-ups and spin outs to transition via fundraising rounds, big releases and major pivots.

How we use venture design to help…

Founders

Transform concepts into companies

Startups

Navigate pivotal moments of growth

Leaders

Embed innovation in your organisation

Investors

Realise the potential of your portfolio

How we charge

We have a flexible pricing model that supports early stage innovation in startups and established organisations.

Suits established organisations and investors

Suits independent founders and early-stage startups

Suits established organisations and investors

Fee

You hire us using a traditional fee-for-service agency model. Typically, this means we’ll estimate our work up-front and then charge for the time we spend on the project.

Shared success

We work for a reduced fee in return for a share in the success of your venture. This could take the form of shared revenue or a follow-up payment based on the outcome of your project.

Equity

We invest our expertise in exchange for the equivalent equity (or token allocation) in your business. We believe shared incentives lead to great work.

Suits independent founders and early-stage startups

Questions?

We’re a little bit different. Here are some of the common questions we’re asked about our way of working.

Which verticals do you work in?

We’re proudly promiscuous, working across sectors, technologies and with organisations of various shapes and sizes. We consider this breadth of experience a strength that leads to richer, more diverse outcomes.

Do you code and build stuff?

Not really. We regularly partner with developers when prototyping new products and are very happy talking code. But we leave build to the specialists. We’re happy to make introductions to the talented dev teams we’ve worked with.

What does a typical project look like?

Hard to say but there are some common themes: 3 week ‘bersts’ seem to be a good tempo. Lots of informal collaboration and silly questions at the start. Followed by a heavy skew on design thinking, lean startup and rapid concepting. We also like to keep things moving, playful and rooted in optimism. But projects can vary wildly in length depending on what we discover along the way and the size of the team we’re partnering with.

Do you work outside of the UK?

Absolutely. We’re remote by default. Many of our partners are overseas and we’re used to working with teams across different timezones.

Are you investors as well as designers?

Not in the traditional sense. We have written a couple of small cheques but in general, the equity we hold is given in exchange for our work on a project.

Do you work on pitch decks?

Yes, we’ve created pitch decks for several seed rounds. Your company’s deck is a true litmus test for the viability of your business. We love the challenge of distilling a high potential idea into a compelling investor opportunity.

Do you play in the web3 space?

Yes. We’ve seen enough evidence to convince us that web3 is more than technology for technology’s sake. Sure, there are teething problems but we’ve seen firsthand how it can be used to address wicked problems like climate change and social inequality. We’re especially aligned with the principles and practices of the ReFi community.