What Trig does

Trig is a privately-held, US-based B2B innovation and design consultancy founded in 2007 as Studio Hagler by industrial designer Ty Hagler and rebranded as Trig Innovation in March 2011. Operating from Chapel Hill, NC as a virtual firm with team members distributed across Charlotte, Raleigh, Knoxville, Los Angeles, and Richmond, Trig sells three core service lines to startups, mid-sized companies, and Fortune 500 clients across consumer products, healthcare, and durable goods: Insights & Ideation (customer research, strategy, and facilitated ideation), Design & Development (industrial design, prototyping, and design for manufacturing), and Brand & Digital (brand strategy, asset management, and digital experiences). The firm differentiates through a human-centered design methodology, deep regulated-medical-device expertise (FDA human factors engineering aligned with HE75:2009, ISO 14971, and IEC 62366), and proprietary frameworks including DHF Ready Ideation (a toolset bridging creative ideation with formal medical device design controls) and Virtual Ideation (digital collaboration methods for distributed teams).

Trig monetizes exclusively through project-based professional services engagements structured as Statements of Work, with custom-quoted pricing and no publicly disclosed rates or recurring subscription tiers. Go-to-market is consultative and enterprise-oriented: client acquisition runs through direct website engagement, thought-leadership content (Tangents blog, Explore articles, Guidebooks, newsletter), industry conference presence (PDMA Innovate Carolina platinum sponsorship, Ty Hagler's PDMA Carolinas board seat), professional referrals, and academic ties to NC State and UNC. Notable engagements include ZEISS (UVClean, two 2021 Red Dot Awards), Redbud Labs (Stage, 2018 IDEA Finalist), 410 Medical (LifeFlow, 2016 IDEA Award), Sunscreenr/Voxelight (2017 IDEA Award), Project Moray, Couplet Care, SimpliciKey, ALTR ERGO, Mustard Tree Instruments, and Modke. The firm has accumulated five IDEA Awards, first Red Dot Awards in 2021, one USPTO patent (FizzLoc Soda Clamp, 2012), and one SBIR-linked research collaboration (Couplet Care $150k Phase I NICHD/NIH grant with Ty Hagler as Co-PI). Trig has remained independent and unfunded throughout its history.

Name

Trig

Legal name

Trig

Website

https://trig.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Trig is a US-based, privately-held B2B innovation and design consultancy offering insights, industrial design, and brand services to startups, mid-sized firms, and Fortune 500 clients across consumer, healthcare, and durable-goods markets, with specialized FDA human factors engineering for medical devices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Design Services

NAICS

Industrial Design Services (541420), Industrial Design Services (54142), Specialized Design Services (5414)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Systems Engineering & Technical Program Management (BPAHAIAI)

Keywords

• Industrial design services
• Product design consulting
• Brand asset management
• Human factors engineering
• Innovation consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chapel Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Design & Innovation Consulting Services: Trig generates revenue through professional service engagements across three practice areas: Insights & Ideation, Design & Development, and Brand & Digital. Services are offered to startups, mid-sized companies, and Fortune 500 clients. Fees are structured as project-based consulting engagements, likely on a Statement of Work or retainer basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Trig is a B2B innovation and design consultancy that delivers three core service practices: Insights & Ideation (customer research and facilitated ideation), Design & Development (industrial design and product development from concept through manufacturing), and Brand & Digital (brand strategy and digital experience design). The firm supplements these with Innovation Training and proprietary methodologies such as DHF Ready Ideation for medical device development. Services are delivered by a distributed virtual team to startups, mid-sized companies, and Fortune 500 clients across consumer, healthcare, and durable goods markets.

Product overview

Trig is an award-winning innovation and design firm offering professional consulting services rather than a software product platform. Their service portfolio centers on three core offerings: Insights & Ideation (customer research and strategy), Design & Development (industrial design and product development), and Brand Asset Management (brand strategy and digital experiences). These core services are supported by Innovation Training (education and coaching), DHF Ready Ideation (a methodology toolset for medical device innovation), and Virtual Ideation capabilities (digital collaboration tools). The firm serves startups, mid-sized companies, and Fortune 500 clients across consumer, healthcare, and durable goods markets, with particular expertise in medical devices. Trig delivers services through a virtual team model rather than as a packaged software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Insights & Ideation

Quantifiable outcome

• ZEISS UVClean disinfects up to 6-10 pairs of eyeglasses in 40 seconds, killing up to 99.5% of common viruses and bacteria
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Voxelight LLCcoreTechnology or Integration · 14 April 2021Trig and Voxelight LLC collaborated with ZEISS to develop the ZEISS UVClean, a UV disinfection tool for eyecare professionals. Trig provided design and development services (concept illustrations, prototype CAD, design for manufacture, product rendering, and video animation), while Voxelight provided UV lighting expertise, component sourcing, electronics circuitry, prototype build, assembly, and testing. Voxelight is known for the Sunscreenr UV detection camera and brought specialized germicidal UVC bulb expertise to the partnership. This is a strategic co-development collaboration that produced a multi-award-winning product.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Worrell Design: Worrell is a healthcare and consumer product design consultancy with deep expertise in human factors, usability engineering, and FDA-regulated product development. It is a direct peer to Trig in the medical device and regulated product design space, serving similar startup and enterprise clients.
• RKS Design: RKS Design is a human-centered product design and innovation consultancy serving startups through Fortune 500 companies across consumer, medical, and social impact sectors. It is comparable to Trig in scale, scope, and target customer segments.
• Smart Design: Smart Design is a global design consultancy serving consumer, healthcare, and industrial clients with human-centered design and innovation services. It is a direct peer to Trig across both consumer products and medical device design engagements.
• Ammunition Group: Ammunition is a design and brand consultancy known for award-winning consumer product and brand work. It overlaps with Trig in industrial design and brand development for premium consumer and healthcare clients.
• Bresslergroup (now Bressler): Bresslergroup is a product design and development consultancy specializing in medical devices, consumer products, and industrial equipment with strong human factors capabilities. It competes with Trig for similar regulated product development engagements.
• Ximedica: Ximedica is a medical-device-focused product development firm offering industrial design, human factors engineering, and regulatory support. It is the closest direct peer to Trig's medical device practice, operating in the same FDA human factors and 510(k) submission niche.

Broad incumbents

• Frog Design (frog): Frog is a global design and innovation consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients across consumer, healthcare, and industrial products. It competes with Trig for enterprise product design engagements but operates at significantly greater scale with broader service offerings.
• IDEO: IDEO is one of the largest and most established human-centered design consultancies, offering strategy, design, and innovation services globally. It is the broad incumbent benchmark for firms like Trig in the design and innovation services space, with significantly greater scale and cross-disciplinary bench.
• Lunar (Accenture Song): Lunar is a design and innovation consultancy (now part of Accenture Song) serving consumer electronics, healthcare, and enterprise clients. It competes with Trig for premium product design engagements but operates within a much larger global services platform.

Emerging players

• Studio Redhead / Hatch Product Design: Hatch Product Design is a smaller industrial design consultancy serving startups and mid-sized companies in consumer products and medical devices. It is an emerging player comparable to Trig in scale, customer mix, and core industrial design offering.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/triginnovation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trig-innovation
• Instagraminstagram.com/triginnovation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Trig