What The Holding Co. does

The Holding Co. is a US-based design consultancy founded in 2019 in Sacramento, operating as a B2B professional services firm focused exclusively on the care economy. The firm partners with startups, multinationals, government agencies, and nonprofits to design products, brands, and experiences that address childcare, elder care, and family caregiving, delivering work across behavioral research, UX design, brand design, product strategy, visual design, and implementation support. Beyond client services, The Holding Co. has built a portfolio of proprietary initiatives including The Sandwich Club (AI-powered caregiver resource hub), The Care Guild (industry leader list), The Investor's Guide to the Care Economy (a $648B market report produced with Pivotal Ventures), and Care OS (multi-stakeholder collaborative research program). The firm also productizes AI through client work such as Ask Aya (a negotiation coach for domestic workers) and Scamwise (a scam detection tool for older adults).

The company generates revenue through professional services engagements structured as design sprints and embedded design teams, with custom pricing not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market is sales-led, relying on direct outreach to potential partners, a portfolio of case studies on the company website, and warm introductions through the Pivotal Ventures ecosystem and partner network. Marketing channels include the company website, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and an email newsletter. Operationally, the firm maintains a US-only geographic focus, restricts its services to visitors within the United States, and stores data on US-based servers. Governance is led by cofounders Patrice (CEO) and Matt Taylor (COO), supported by a leadership team that includes a CFO, CDO, Design Director, Executive Director of UX, and Director of Business Design, indicating a professionalized but still compact organization.

Name

The Holding Co.

Legal name

The Holding Co.

Website

https://theholding.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Holding Co. is a US design consultancy founded in 2019 that specializes in brand, product, and UX design exclusively for the care economy, serving startups, multinationals, government agencies, and nonprofits through design sprints and owned initiatives like The Sandwich Club.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Design Services: The Holding Co. generates revenue by providing design services to partner organizations including behavioral research, UX design, brand design, strategy, and product development. They work with startups, multinationals, government agencies, and nonprofits through collaborative design sprints.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Holding Co. is a B2B design consultancy that sells behavioral and design research, UX design, brand design, product strategy, visual design, and implementation support to organizations working in the care economy—including startups, multinationals, government agencies, and nonprofits. Engagements are delivered via embedded design teams and sprint-based collaborations that produce products, brands, and experiences for the partner organization. The firm also operates select proprietary initiatives such as The Sandwich Club, The Care Guild, Care OS, and The Investor's Guide to the Care Economy.

Product overview

The Holding Co. is a design consultancy focused on revolutionizing care products, brands, and experiences for families. Rather than a single unified product, they offer a portfolio of services including design sprints, embedded design teams, and strategic consulting. Their portfolio includes proprietary/initiative products (The Sandwich Club - AI-powered caregiver resource hub; The Care Guild - industry recognition list; The Investor's Guide to the Care Economy - $648B market report; Care OS - collaborative innovation program) alongside client partnership projects where they design products, brands, and experiences for partner organizations (Wellthy care platform, WA Cares Fund, Employer Child Care Navigator, Grouper, CareScout, Camino smart walker, CaringBridge, Savi Security/Scamwise, Ask Aya, Cleo, Hatch, Bridgecare). Services span behavioral/design research, brand strategy, UX/product design, visual design, video direction, and implementation support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Care Guild: A first-of-its-kind list of people doing the most to re-imagine and re-humanize the care system, formerly known as the Care 100.
• Care OS
• The Sandwich Club
• The Investor's Guide to the Care Economy

Quantifiable outcome

• 91+ NPS score during beta testing for Ask Aya tool
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Pivotal VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019The Holding Co. works in collaboration with Pivotal Ventures, the investment and incubation company by Melinda French Gates. The company was formed out of a year-long research exploration on caregiving in America in 2019. Pivotal Ventures is described as the founding collaborative partner.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IDEO: Global design consultancy with deep social impact and human-centered design practice, serving enterprises and governments. Closely comparable business model (B2B design sprints, research-led engagements, brand and product design) and similar positioning at the intersection of design and mission-driven work.
• Huge: Digital design and product agency combining strategy, UX, brand, and technology services for enterprise clients. Overlapping capabilities in product design, brand systems, and research-led engagements for large organizations.
• fuseproject: Design and branding studio offering product, brand, and experience design for consumer and enterprise clients. Comparable creative-services model with sprint-based engagements and brand-system expertise.
• Pentagram: Independent branding and design partnership serving a wide range of clients with identity, strategy, and experience work. Comparable as a B2B brand design firm, though broader in vertical focus than The Holding Co.'s care-economy specialization.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy delivering brand strategy, identity, and experience design for major enterprises. Comparable as a B2B brand-led design firm serving enterprise and government clients.
• Frog Design: Design and strategy consultancy delivering brand, product, and experience design to multinational enterprises and startups. Comparable scope of services (research, UX, brand, product) and similar client mix of large corporates and high-growth ventures.
• Smart Design: Independent design consultancy offering research, UX, brand, and product design for consumer and enterprise clients. Closely comparable mid-size B2B design firm model with research-led sprint methodology.

Emerging players

• Daylight Design: Independent design consultancy focused on social impact, healthcare, and mission-driven organizations. Comparable niche focus on purpose-driven and healthcare-adjacent design work.
• RKS Design: Purpose-driven design consultancy combining research, UX, and brand strategy with social impact focus. Similar mission-led positioning and emphasis on human-centered design for care-adjacent and consumer audiences.
• Studio M\u00f3ngo: Independent design studio spanning product, brand, and experience design with an emphasis on human-centered and impact-led engagements. Comparable small-team creative services firm with a portfolio-led GTM motion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/the_holding_co
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-holding-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Holding Co.