Aligning brand perception with 3+ years of proven impact

LabStart's complete brand and website refresh in 4 months

How we built a brand and website that matched 3+ years of proven impact, supporting fundraising goals and tripling fellowship applications.

TIMELINE

4 months from discovery workshop to launch

Challenge

Digital presence didn't reflect operational maturity, creating friction in fundraising conversations and fellow recruitment.

Impact

Fundraising goals achieved
~3x anticipated fellowship applications
Visibility growth enabled
Leadership now directs all stakeholders to the website

The Opportunity

LabStart is a climate venture studio that recruits diverse entrepreneurs to build startups using breakthrough technologies from university and national lab research. After 3+ years of running pilot programs and building relationships with institutional funders, they'd proven the model.

But their website didn't match the credibility they'd built. With fundraising conversations ramping up and fellowship applications opening, they needed a digital presence that could:

Support multi-million dollar funding conversations with philanthropic partners
Reflect the operational maturity they'd built over 3+ years
Direct prospects to learn more without requiring founder-led explanation
Showcase current fellows and program outcomes to attract quality applicants
Provide a foundation for scaling without constant bottlenecks

Without it, their proven track record would stay invisible to the people who needed to see it.

The Impact

The new brand and website gave LabStart a foundation that supports growth across fundraising, recruitment, and ecosystem presence.

Fundraising goals achieved:
Leadership now confidently directs philanthropic offices to their website. The professional presence supported conversations that led to meeting their fundraising targets.
3x fellowship applications:
Clear program communication and professional showcase of current fellows attracted three times the anticipated applications.
Visibility growth enabled:
With a digital foundation that reflects their work, LabStart increased their presence across climate tech events, panels, and initiatives without hesitation.
Brand system for future growth:
The brand guidebook, video, marketing templates, and social assets give the team everything needed to maintain consistency independently.

"What if Design's leadership on our brand redesign was a dream. Their team worked as an extension of our mission, embodied our values, and then expanded upon our vision with ease. Our static, version 101 website was transformed into a full brand identity - professional, creative, and human.”

Megan Holcomb

COO, LabStart

orange graph with growth with dollar sign

three people standing in an group with connected dots

Scope

Brand strategy

Visual identity

Website design and development

Tools

How we delivered

We built a system that turns LabStart's proven impact into a presence that opens doors.

Strategic foundation:
We ran a 90-minute workshop with their leadership team to capture their vision, role in the ecosystem, and how they needed to show up. This became the blueprint for everything that followed.
Brand development:
We created a visual identity that represents LabStart's mission of building accessible pathways into climate tech. The logo, guidebook, video, and templates tell the story before a word is read.
Website for multiple audiences:
The site speaks to potential fellows, funders, research institutions, and ecosystem partners simultaneously. Each audience finds what they need without wading through irrelevant content.
System for independence:
We delivered brand guidelines, marketing templates, and social assets so the team can create content and maintain consistency without waiting on agency support.