In the rapidly evolving world of design and architecture, a London-based startup named Stylib is making waves with its groundbreaking product search platform for design professionals. Co-founded by two architects, Stylib is spearheading a transformation in the way architectural products are searched, reviewed, and specified. By harnessing the power of AI and machine vision, the platform aims to streamline and revolutionise the product discovery process.
Fuelling growth with pre-seed funding
Stylib’s £1.5 million pre-seed funding round was led by Foundamental, the global early-stage construction tech investor. The funding, which includes participation from AEC/O software provider Nemetschek Group and Redstone Built World Strategy, will enable Stylib to expand its product development and bolster its UK operations, ensuring it can serve a growing customer base efficiently. With plans to grow the team to 12 by 2024, Stylib aims to reshape the architectural materials market. Stylib plans to use the infusion of funds to bolster product development and propel its expansion in the UK, empowering designers and streamlining the workflow for suppliers in the ever-growing architectural materials market.
Unveiling the digital transformation of architectural product discovery
As the architecture and design industry embraces digitalisation, over 95% of architectural product searches have already transitioned to the online realm, yet suppliers still heavily rely on traditional offline methods like showrooms and catalogues to reach potential buyers. Recognising the gap between how design professionals seek products and how suppliers operate, Stylib aims to bridge this chasm by empowering both sellers and designers through an innovative platform.
Vertical Shopify approach
Drawing inspiration from the success of Shopify, the e-commerce giant, Stylib is adopting a “vertical Shopify” approach. By focusing on the $1.2 trillion architectural materials market, Stylib is building a vertical solutions platform to facilitate seamless digital interactions between sellers and their designer customers. The objective is to empower sellers and streamline their workflows in the digital domain, making it easier for design professionals to discover and specify architectural products effectively.
AI and machine vision at the core
Stylib’s approach centres around AI and machine vision, offering designers unprecedented capabilities in their product search endeavours. Leveraging proprietary machine vision tools, designers can use their own inspiration images to find relevant products from trade suppliers. Complementing this technology is Stylib’s extensive product database, equipped with technical filters, such as sustainability criteria, fire rating, and slip resistance. By doing so, Stylib significantly reduces the time spent on searches, enabling designers to explore a wide array of product alternatives without limitations.
Empowering suppliers with digital tools
Stylib’s mission extends beyond serving designers; it also seeks to empower suppliers with the tools they need to thrive in the digital age. Through Stylib’s API and widget solutions, suppliers can seamlessly integrate product discovery technology into their own websites. The platform’s vertical Product Information System (PIM) enables suppliers to efficiently manage their entire catalogue database, enriched by machine learning insights. Additionally, suppliers benefit from valuable search insights, which offer an understanding of the latest trends based on user searches.
Founders pioneering change
The driving force behind Stylib’s vision are its founders, Noam Naveh (CEO) and Fabio Galicia (CTO). Both architects, they met during their Master’s studies at UCL in Design Computation. Combining their industry-specific expertise with technological knowledge, the duo is committed to bringing efficiency and transparency to the architectural products market. With the European architecture materials and finishes market valued at $300 billion annually and a staggering $1.2 trillion globally, Stylib has garnered substantial interest and investment.
Founders’ insights and vision for the future
Naveh and Galicia expressed the frustrations experienced by design professionals when embarking on a new material search. He highlights the challenge of an abundance of products flooding the market without efficient tools to navigate and manage them. Currently, both suppliers and designers remain dependent on outdated catalogues, showrooms, and salespeople. Stylib aims to transform this by creating digital tools that complement the work of design professionals, bridging the gap between suppliers and designers.
“As architects, we understand the frustration felt by design professionals when embarking on a new material search and trying to find the right products for their projects.” Said Noam Naveh. “We’re facing a ‘classic’ data access problem: globalisation and the rise of digital have led to the markets being flooded with products, however, the tools used to search and manage these products remain the same as 20 years ago. Currently, both suppliers and designers remain dependent on catalogues, showrooms and salespeople. The result is inefficient product discovery for designers and ineffective pre-sales workflows for suppliers. Stylib is transforming this by creating tools that complement the work of design professionals in the digital world. We’re delighted to have the support of such an experienced group of investors who will help us to reshape our own industry.”
Fabio Galicia added, “Suppliers haven’t been able to keep pace with the technological revolution in design and architecture, preferring to rely on old-school methods which are limiting their reach and curbing the inspiration process for designers. We’re excited about the potential for Stylib to revolutionise material search by using AI product search and management tools to make finding the best products seamless for both architects and suppliers.”
Investor confidence in Stylib’s vision
Investors have shown tremendous confidence in Stylib’s vision for the industry’s digital future. Patric Hellermann, General Partner at Foundamental, views the manual methods of finding materials as hindering suppliers from connecting with designers and effectively tracking product details for environmental and safety purposes. He believes Stylib’s digitally native approach can address this challenge effectively.
“Having to rely on manual methods to find materials is holding back suppliers from connecting with designers and making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to track product details for environmental and safety purposes.” Says Patric Hellermann, General Partner at Foundamental, “This is an exciting opportunity for a digitally native product, and we believe Noam and Fabio have the drive and the team to do so.”
Tanja Kufner, Head of Ventures at Nemetschek Group, added, “The lack of standardisation and searchability across suppliers is holding back the digitisation of material-related workflows. The Stylib team is leveraging AI and machine learning to solve the material search problem and make it highly scalable, in a way we’ve never seen before. We look forward to supporting Noam, Fabio and the team on this journey.”
Niklas Grunewald, Managing Partner at Redstone Build World Strategy, finishes, “Tapping into both designer and supplier workflows in the materials space, the team at Stylib are building a platform that solves a long-standing problem for the whole ecosystem. This is not about replacing trade shows, but about streamlining the everyday processes in between. With the massive volumes that are being transacted in the materials space, we believe that the team has uncovered an enormous market opportunity and the right experience to execute.”
