Rayon – the Figma of Space Design
#Space Design #Pre-Seed #Collaborative Software
Quick Overview:
One-liner: Rayon is a collaborative space design software that caters to the 90% of ordinary buildings – a demographic that current software is not purpose-built for.
Founders: Stanislas Chaillou (Masters in Architecture from Harvard & Ex-Faculty at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia), Bastien Dolla (co-founded habx)
Latest Funding: $2M Pre-Seed (led by Seedcamp, with participation from 20VC and Foundamental in June 2022)
Stage: Currently in beta, planning to launch for commercial use in 2023.
Website: https://www.rayon.design/
Founded: 2021; Location: Paris/Remote; # of employees: 6
TLDR – Investment Verdict:
Rayon really feels like it has the potential to do to interior design what Figma did to UI/UX design – democratize access and be the single tool that encompasses the needs of every space design team. The product is collaborative-first, web-based, and is focused on creating design software for the 90% of buildings that are traditionally “ordinary” and neglected.
The market for space design software is there and it feels like the shift to collaborative-first tools is just a matter of time. The same shift has already happened in web/product design with Figma, and Rayon seems perfectly positioned to lead this same shift in space design. Both founders also have strong domain expertise and a previous entrepreneurial track-record, which makes them the right people to build a product like Rayon. The largest concern with Rayon is whether foregoing the feature exhaustivity that traditional CAD softwares offer will result in them not being a complete platform for space design. By focusing on speed over complexity, Rayon is much more user-friendly than traditional CAD software, but only time will tell whether their software will be sophisticated enough that designers can achieve the same detail on Rayon as they can on current CAD software, if desired. Though this is a concern, the team and current progress give every indication that Rayon will be able to solve this and become the go-to space design software.
Analysis:
Rayon’s Thesis (Source):
Space design is a fundamentally collaborative process, yet current tools are not collaborative-first. Rayon is trying to change this – their multiplayer real-time platform enables anyone to work together from anywhere to create and provide instant feedback on space designs.
“Space design” describes, in broad strokes, the conception and remodeling of the buildings surrounding us every day. This activity gathers countless individuals — architects, space planners, facility managers, brokers, engineers, etc.— working together to shape our cities’ brick and mortar lifecycle, from inception, to operation, to repurposing.
Yet, the lack of collaboration isn’t the only issue with existing solutions. Rayon believes that “space design is undergoing a pivotal moment, that can be condensed to a simple statement: ordinary buildings matter.” Traditionally, the majority of focus and effort (in both the design process and software) has gone into building the exceptional landmarks that cities like New York, Paris, and London are renowned for. But, these landmarks only represent 10% of construction; Rayon believes that the remaining 90% has been neglected and lacks the right infrastructure. They are leading the development a new class of space design tools that they believe “is needed to support this sunken part of the iceberg”.
About Rayon:
Rayon is a collaborative space design software for the 30 million interior designers who work on the design of space plans each day. The platform is web-based and collaborative – designers can import existing work or begin from scratch and start designing with Rayon’s smart-sketching features. Rayon is focused on catering to the “undeserved 90%” of buildings and are therefore creating a new generation of design software by building upon three distinct trade-offs:
Speed vs Complexity: Rayon is betting that being less feature exhaustive (complex) than traditional CAD software but being quicker (more user-friendly) is the future of space design software. At a mountain-top view, this makes intuitive sense – current software is extremely complex to navigate and thus doesn’t suit the 90% of designers who are looking to quickly put together a mood board and relatively simpler designs for their project. Yet, finding the right balance between speed vs complexity will be key for Rayon’s success if they are going to grow to become a complete platform that every designer will use, regardless of the complexity of the project.
Collaboration vs Power: Rayon is a collaborative-first platform unlike most existing solutions. This is one of Rayon’s biggest sells, and given the collaborative nature of space design and the number of different players involved in the process, having a collaborative-first software is pivotal. Rayon takes this a step-further – they seem to only rely on a web-based browser. While this reduces friction, it will be interesting to see if this truly has the power to withstand thousands of designers collaborating in real-time on complex designs.
Open vs Siloed: Rayon believes that “tomorrow’s design software will have to become much more porous than previous CAD tools”. This means that Rayon is enabling user feedback at every step of the process – through easy-to-share public URL’s. Rayon’s position as a web-based editor makes this process of sharing much smoother and this is a unique differentiator that Rayon possesses over existing solutions.
Investment Analysis
Rayon is incredibly early, still being in beta and having only recently raised a pre-seed round. Yet, the early signs indicate that Rayon has the potential to be a disruptor in the space design industry. Rayon’s thesis on building fast, collaborative, user-centric space design software is strong and has previously occurred in the product design space. The team is strong, with a good blend of entrepreneurial and design expertise. The main difficulty Rayon will face as it grows is how to build a complete platform that is user-friendly but also capable of building out really complex, sophisticated floor plans. If Rayon solves that, it not only captures designers who are building the 90% of ordinary buildings, but it also captures all designers involved space design, becoming the complete platform.