"We are placing more emphasis on developing a product that can generate revenue. The bootstrapping approach drives us towards creating a superior product, " shared Dan Anisse, co-founder of Relume, in an interview with TechCrunch. Initially, Sydney-based Relume started as a component library catering to web design giants Webflow and Figma, offering over a thousand customizable blocks that include content, navigation bars, footers, and other elements that can be easily reused across websites. With the rise in popularity of ChatGPT last year, the Relume team, like many other productivity tools, began considering how AI could enhance their features. In August, Relume introduced a generative AI twist to their web design platform. By inputting a text prompt that describes the desired website—for example, "XYZ is a food delivery app that brings local farm produce to your doorstep on the same day"—its AI swiftly creates an editable sitemap that can be regenerated with a single click. Users can then preview their website's appearance by switching from "sitemap" mode to "wireframe"—a visual representation of the site. Relume's algorithms automatically populate the wireframe with components from its library, allowing users to rearrange these visual elements at will. At this stage, users already have a functional website. Relume trains its in-house web-building AI by leveraging OpenAI's extensive language model for prompt interpretation. The AI-generated text output can be converted into a visual wireframe in real time as the text matches the site's code. To date, Relume has amassed approximately 54, 000 users, with 10, 000 signing up following the launch of the AI feature two weeks ago. The platform, conceived by a team of seven individuals with backgrounds from design giant Canva and early-stage startup builder Antler, boasts a retention rate of around 90%, according to Anisse. Priced at $32/month, the company primarily targets individuals, freelancers, and web design agencies, now enabling them to create up to ten websites per month instead of three.

However, AI is not intended to handle everything; Relume aims to empower rather than replace designers. "We give [designers] 70% of the project, but there is still 30% that needs to be done manually, " emphasized Anisse. "We simply do much of the heavy lifting. The remaining 30% involves tasks like creating the style guide, making decisions about fonts, backgrounds, colors, images, and other factors that humans need to consider. " The fine-tuning occurs on Figma and Webflow. With a web plug-in, Relume projects can seamlessly integrate with these two popular web-building tools, offering users an array of editing options, such as changing button shapes and colors. From established players like Wix to emerging platforms like Universe, the web design market is witnessing a surge in tools adopting generative AI. Anisse claims that Relume sets itself apart by building upon established design systems instead of trying to dismantle them—a strategy that differentiates them from some competitors. By being part of mature ecosystems, the startup gains access to a massive user base, although this approach carries the risk of losing access if dominant players decide to sever the connection. "It's a strategic choice, " noted the founder, highlighting their positive reception from Webflow, with the company's CEO even giving a shoutout to Relume on Twitter. "Wow, this is absolutely incredible - huge props to the @relume_io team for bringing these amazing AI superpowers to more Webflow visual developers!" tweeted the CEO. When asked about potential copycats, Anisse stated, "Anything is possible with a significant amount of resources and engineering. " However, he remains unfazed, commenting that "our advantage lies in our strong community, who appreciates what we are doing, and the fact that competitors would have to manually build a component library from scratch and train it. " Currently, Relume's Slack channel boasts nearly 4, 500 members who actively discuss job opportunities, seek feedback on projects, and share tips on running design agencies. While the company is not actively seeking funding at the moment, Anisse did not rule out the possibility of external funding in the future. However, any potential investors must align with their strategic goals and possess a deep understanding of how design platforms operate, he added.