frog and Tuesday Capital Forge Unique Partnership to Help Early-Stage Startups
SAN FRANCISCO —
frog, one of the world’s leading design firms, and Tuesday Capital (formerly CrunchFund), a top-performing seed-stage venture capital firm, announced today that they have forged a unique partnership offering startup founders a combination of strategic design services from frog and capital from Tuesday in exchange for equity.
Under the new partnership, qualified early-stage ventures will be eligible to receive investment from Tuesday Capital to engage frog, giving the startups the option of covering the cost of their design projects with equity. The two organizations will work together closely, collaborating on deal flow, diligence and founder support. frog’s services include brand, product and go-to-market strategy, digital product and connected hardware design, and building internal capabilities to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
The arrangement will provide Tuesday’s portfolio companies more direct access to frog’s global expertise and contacts, helping them get to market faster and stronger.
“This partnership will greatly increase the number of early-stage startups that can benefit from our offerings, network and collaborative approach – and will provide frog much broader reach into the startup ecosystem,” said Andy Zimmerman, President of frog. “It will also provide a huge benefit to our large corporate clients, as we advise them on how to infuse entrepreneurship and disruptive models into their business strategies.”
“frog’s design services and support align with our own work in helping founders bring their visions to life,” said Patrick Gallagher, Founder and Managing Partner of Tuesday Capital. “We have two very different skill sets and networks that are complementary. This is an incredibly exciting partnership for both of us and for our portfolio companies.”
Zimmerman noted that entrepreneurship is in frog’s DNA. “Throughout our 50-year history, we have prioritized working alongside visionary founders, reaching as far back as the early days of Apple’s Steve Jobs and Sony’s Akio Morita. This is the first time, however, that we’ve had a capital partner to help make our services available to far more startups in their crucial early stages.”
The two companies have been collaborating informally for years. They first found themselves as co-investors in 2014, and since then have formed a strong relationship. In 2016, when Gallagher felt it was time for CrunchFund to grow beyond its name, he turned to frog. Together they rebranded the firm to Tuesday Capital.
Tuesday is a seed stage focused venture capital firm based in SF and NY that has made more than 250 investments to date. Its portfolio includes companies like Digital Ocean, Gitlab, Uber, Cruise Automation, Airtable, Airbnb, Opendoor, Kueski, Good Eggs, Rover and many other notable companies. Currently investing out of its fourth fund, Tuesday has more than $100 million under management and its funds are consistently top performers in their peer group.
frog itself has worked with more than 50 startups in the past five years, making focused investments in a select few. The resulting portfolio of 18 startups ‒ including ride-hailing service Alto, financial app Charlie Finance, robot burger maker Creator and commercial coffee roaster Bellwether Coffee ‒ has collectively raised nearly $300 million with or following frog’s involvement. As a group, the companies are now worth over $1 billion.
The new partnership is effective immediately. Candidate companies can contact frog or Tuesday Capital for investment consideration. For more information, please visit frog.co/services/startups.
To arrange a press interview with a frog executive, please contact Lauren Hiznay at 212 584-4291 or frogdesign@5wpr.com. To arrange a press interview with a Tuesday executive, contact Jessica West at 415 562-6005 or Jessi@West-Comms.com
