Start Digital
The Start is a Perth-based digital design and technology studio with a 16-person in-house team serving enterprise, mid-market, and government clients across Australia. It delivers custom websites, branding, AI consultancy, SEO, and three proprietary AI products: Voodu, Solais, and Maiple.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersPerth, Australia
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Start Digital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Start Digital
- Legal name
- The Start
- Website
- https://startdigital.com.au
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- The Start is a Perth-based digital design and technology studio with a 16-person in-house team serving enterprise, mid-market, and government clients across Australia. It delivers custom websites, branding, AI consultancy, SEO, and three proprietary AI products: Voodu, Solais, and Maiple.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Start Digital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Creative Services
- NAICS
- Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Graphic Design Services (541430), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience (BPAHAEAC), Digital Strategy & Transformation (BPAHAEAA)
Keywords
Where Start Digital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Perth
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Start Digital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Creative and Technology Services: Project-based services including web design, UX design, branding, graphic design, web development, AI consultancy, AI development, web support, web hosting, social media marketing, marketing strategy, SEO, and GEO. Projects run 8-16 weeks from strategy to launch.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Start Digital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Start Digital (also known as The Start) is a Perth-based creative web design, technology, and marketing agency that delivers in-house professional services spanning web design, UX design, branding, graphic design, web development, AI consultancy, AI development, web support, web hosting, social media marketing, marketing strategy, SEO, and GEO. The studio also maintains a proprietary AI Product Suite (Voodu, Solais, Maiple) and builds custom websites with clean code and a project-specific CMS for clients across Australia and internationally.
Product overview
The Start is a creative web design and marketing agency based in Perth that operates as a multi-service studio offering design, technology, and marketing services. The company has developed three proprietary AI products—Voodu, Solais, and Maiple—which are bundled under an AI Product Suite. Their service portfolio spans web design, UX design, branding, graphic design, web development, AI consultancy, AI development, web support, web hosting, social media marketing, marketing strategy, SEO, and GEO services. Everything is built in-house by their team of sixteen with no templates, no offshoring.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Voodu: Proprietary AI product developed by The Start.
- Solais
- Maiple
Products and services
- AI Product Suite (Voodu, Solais, Maiple) A bundled offering of three proprietary AI products—Voodu, Solais, and Maiple—developed by The Start to deliver AI-powered solutions and to serve as the agency's own implementation experience for client engagements.
- Web Design Custom web design services creating unique, attention-worthy websites for Perth brands, built end-to-end by The Start's in-house team with no templates.
- UX Design User experience design services focused on solving client problems through research-driven design for digital products and websites.
- Branding Brand identity and branding services designed to help Perth brands stand out and become hard to ignore.
- Graphic Design Graphic design services creating visual content for varied applications across client engagements.
- Web Development Website and digital product development services building unique websites, AI tools, and SaaS platforms in Perth with clean code and real SEO foundations.
- AI Consultancy AI consulting services that help clients determine which AI solutions are worth building, drawing on The Start's firsthand experience building its own AI products.
- AI Development AI development services to build and deploy custom AI tools and solutions for client use cases.
- Web Support Ongoing website maintenance and support services for client websites post-launch.
- Web Hosting Website hosting services for client websites built or maintained by The Start.
- Social Media Marketing Social media marketing services with campaigns tied to visible results on live dashboards, integrating creativity with data-driven performance.
- Marketing Strategy Strategic marketing planning that combines creativity with data-driven approaches to build campaigns that produce measurable results.
- SEO Search engine optimization services built on real SEO foundations and clean code, designed to deliver sustainable organic search performance.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Generative engine optimization services focused on AI-powered search discovery, helping clients surface in AI-generated search results.
Quantifiable outcome
- Won Webby Award for Music Website of the Year beating Lady Gaga, Apple Music, and Soundcloud
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Start Digital
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Start Digital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Start Digital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Start Digital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Thinkerbell: Australian independent creative, brand, and digital agency with a similar full-service studio model spanning brand, content, and integrated campaigns for enterprise clients. Comparable in offering breadth and Australian mid-market positioning.
- Portable: Australian digital agency focused on design, technology, and digital products for enterprise and government. Closely comparable in boutique custom-build, no-template, in-house delivery ethos and public-sector client base.
- Affinity (Orchard): Mid-sized Australian independent agency spanning brand, creative, and digital. Similar in being an independent, multi-disciplinary competitor for mid-market and enterprise brand and digital work.
- Luminary: Australian digital agency specializing in web development, CMS, and digital experience work. Highly comparable on the web development, custom CMS, and SEO technical foundations side of The Start's offering.
- Bastion Agency: Independent Australian agency group offering integrated creative, digital, content, and technology services. Comparable in being an independent, full-service agency competing for the same enterprise and government accounts.
- The Works (Australia): Sydney-based creative and digital agency within Capgemini Invent, offering brand, digital, and technology services. Comparable multi-discipline studio model serving enterprise clients across Australia.
- Deepend: Long-standing Australian digital agency with web, mobile, and platform engineering capabilities. Comparable in serving enterprise clients with custom-built digital products rather than templated solutions.
Broad incumbents
- AKQA: Global WPP-owned digital creative and experience design agency. Overlaps with The Start on digital experience design, web/app builds, and AI-enabled experiences but serves global enterprise at vastly larger scale.
- BMF Advertising: Large established Australian creative agency with broader campaign and media capabilities. Overlaps with The Start on creative and digital work but operates at significantly larger scale across more channels.
- Deloitte Digital Australia: Consulting-led digital transformation arm of a Big Four firm. Competes with The Start on enterprise digital, web, and AI transformation mandates but at much larger scale and with broader service portfolio.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Start Digital social profiles
Digital presenceStart Digital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Start Digital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Start Digital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Start Digital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Start Digital
What does Start Digital do?
Start Digital (also known as The Start) is a Perth-based creative web design, technology, and marketing agency that delivers in-house professional services spanning web design, UX design, branding, graphic design, web development, AI consultancy, AI development, web support, web hosting, social media marketing, marketing strategy, SEO, and GEO. The studio also maintains a proprietary AI Product Suite (Voodu, Solais, Maiple) and builds custom websites with clean code and a project-specific CMS for clients across Australia and internationally.
Is Start Digital a public or private company?
Start Digital is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Start Digital founded?
Start Digital was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Start Digital based?
Start Digital is headquartered in Perth, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Start Digital make money?
One revenue line is on record: creative and Technology Services.
Who are Start Digital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Thinkerbell, Portable, Affinity (Orchard), Luminary, Bastion Agency, The Works (Australia) and Deepend. Broad incumbents are AKQA, BMF Advertising and Deloitte Digital Australia.
Does Start Digital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Start Digital.
What industry is Start Digital in?
Start Digital's product category is Digital Creative Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAAAD, Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX), with a secondary code of BPAHAEAC, Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience. Its NAICS code is 541511 and its SIC code is 7311.