YUX Design
YUX Design is a pan-African research and design company combining UX research, human-centered design, and AI for African contexts. It serves global foundations, Big Tech, and telcos across seven African countries via consulting, proprietary products (LOOKA, Kitala.ai), and a Cultural AI Lab.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersDakar, Senegal
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What YUX Design does
YUX Design is a pan-African research and design company founded in 2016 in Dakar, Senegal, that combines social sciences, human-centered design (HCD), and applied AI to build products and services tailored to African communities. Operating from offices in seven countries (Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Rwanda, Kenya) with a team of 50+ behavioral researchers, designers, and AI engineers, the company delivers projects across four primary verticals: financial inclusion and agritech, AI and consumer tech, education, and health and gender. Its client base spans major global foundations (Gates Foundation, UNICEF, Aga Khan, MSF, UNESCO, USAID), big tech (Google, Meta, TikTok, Square/Block, Wikipedia, m-Pesa), and telecom operators (Orange), with engagements covering user research, co-creation workshops, UX/UI design, AI evaluation, and bias mitigation work.
The company's technology stack centers on five offerings: LOOKA, a community-based market research software platform for African participant recruitment; Kitala.ai, a data annotation platform for AI model training; YUX Design Academy, a training institution teaching HCD and UX skills; Kayfo, a gaming studio; and the Cultural AI Lab, a research division producing African language datasets and fine-tuned models (notably Wolof and Hausa ASR models and the AfriStereo bias-evaluation dataset). The underlying technical differentiator is domain specialization in low-resource African languages and culturally grounded AI evaluation.
YUX generates revenue through three streams: project-based research and design consulting (the dominant revenue stream, billed as multi-year engagements), subscription/recurring access to its LOOKA and Kitala.ai software platforms, and training revenue through YUX Design Academy and the YUX Fellowship Program. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the company operates as a self-funded (bootstrapped) African SME with no external institutional investors. Its go-to-market combines direct sales to global foundations and tech firms, regional client engagements with local NGOs and telcos, and a self-serve channel for its LOOKA and Kitala.ai products. The YUX Fellowship Program functions as a community-led motion, building a network of pre-vetted researchers who can be embedded into project RFPs.
YUX Design firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- YUX Design
- Legal name
- YUX
- Website
- https://yux.design
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- YUX Design is a pan-African research and design company combining UX research, human-centered design, and AI for African contexts. It serves global foundations, Big Tech, and telcos across seven African countries via consulting, proprietary products (LOOKA, Kitala.ai), and a Cultural AI Lab.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
YUX Design industry classification
Industry- Product category
- UX Research & Human-Centered Design Consulting
- NAICS
- Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Graphic Design Services (541430), Other Specialized Design Services (54149)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- UI/UX Engineering & Front-End Modernization (BPAEAFAH), Learning Experience Design (LXD) & UX for Learning (EDAGAKAF)
Keywords
Where YUX Design is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Dakar
- HQ country
- Senegal
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices7 records
Markets served
YUX Design business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Research & Design Consulting: Project-based consulting engagements with NGOs, foundations, tech companies, and governments for UX research, design, and AI implementation across health, education, agriculture, and fintech sectors
- Software Products: LOOKA market research software and Kitala.ai data annotation platform provided to clients for research and AI development
- Training & Fellowship Programs: YUX Design Academy provides training cohorts and internal resources; Fellowship Program offers recognition, training, and project-based collaboration opportunities
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Project-based consulting rates |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
YUX Design product offering
Product offeringCore offering
YUX Design is a pan-African research and design company that combines social sciences, design thinking, and technology to co-create user-centered products and services for African communities. Its core service is project-based UX research, behavioral insights, and HCD/UX-UI design consulting delivered to NGOs, foundations, tech companies, and governments across health, education, agriculture, and fintech sectors. The company also operates proprietary software products (LOOKA market research software, Kitala.ai data annotation platform) and an AI research lab focused on African-language model fine-tuning.
Product overview
YUX Design is a pan-African research and design company that operates as a unified platform combining social sciences, design thinking, and technology to co-create products and services tailored to African communities. The company's portfolio consists of LOOKA (market research software), Kitala.ai (data annotation platform), YUX Design Academy (training institution), Kayfo (gaming studio), and Cultural AI Lab (AI research division). These offerings work together to provide end-to-end capabilities from user research and insights to AI model development and training, enabling YUX to deliver human-centered solutions across health, education, agriculture, and fintech sectors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- LOOKA Market research software platform that enables community-driven market research approaches in Africa, managing participant recruitment and communication according to defined criteria and schedules.
- Kitala.ai Data annotation platform developed by YUX for AI model training and evaluation, supporting culturally relevant AI development across African contexts.
- YUX Design Academy Training institution dedicated to design and user experience education, offering programs to develop professionals capable of creating user-centered solutions integrating design thinking principles.
- Kayfo Gaming studio focused on creating culturally relevant gaming experiences for African markets.
- Cultural AI Lab Research division exploring cultural relevance of AI models and products through creation of datasets, tools, and frameworks for human-centered AI evaluations, focusing on dataset curation, AI model fine-tuning, and behavioral research on AI usage in Africa.
- UX Research & Design Consulting Project-based consulting engagements providing user research, behavioral insights, co-creation workshops, strategic foresight, collaborative design, and UX/UI design services for NGOs, foundations, tech companies, telecom operators, fintechs, and governments across health, education, agriculture, and fintech sectors in Africa.
Quantifiable outcome
- Redesign of myAgro Connect improved agent task efficiency and performance visibility for farmers
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use YUX Design
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
YUX Design technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature6 records
YUX Design partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Gates FoundationcoreGlobal health and development foundation collaborating with YUX on projects across Africa for health, agriculture, and technology initiatives
- UNICEFcoreUnited Nations agency working with YUX on child health and digital tools for underserved populations
- GooglecoreTechnology partner for AI and research projects including analysis of 25,000+ rows of open-ended responses using generative AI
- MetacorePartnership through TTC Labs for online safety research with teens and parents in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire
- Wikimedia FoundationcoreResearch partnership exploring user engagement with African language content on Wikipedia platforms
- GSMAcoreMobile industry association partnership for mobile technology research and digital inclusion
- m-PesacoreMobile money platform partnership for financial inclusion research and design
- Square/BlockcoreFinancial technology partnership for fintech research and design
- OrangecoreTelecom partner since 2017 for mobile money UX/UI design. Conducted ~15 design sprints for Orange Côte d'Ivoire product roadmaps
- DimagicoreHealthcare technology company partnership for CommCare platform UX/UI design in Côte d'Ivoire vaccination campaigns
- MyAgrocoreAgritech nonprofit partnership for UX redesign of myAgro Connect mobile layaway application serving 115,000 farmers
- Aga Khan FoundationcoreEducation transformation partnership for learning solutions and teacher-led innovation in East Africa
- UNESCOcoreEducation research and program partnership with UN educational organization
- Médecins Sans FrontièrescoreHumanitarian medical organization partnership for healthcare program design
- Institut PasteurcoreBiomedical research organization partnership for health research initiatives
- Stanford UniversitycoreResearch partner in Cultural AI Lab for AI evaluation and cultural relevance research
- Lancaster UniversitycoreAcademic research partner for AI studies and cultural context research
- APHRCcoreAfrican Population and Health Research Center partnership for health AI research
- Strathmore UniversitycoreAcademic partner for AI research and training initiatives in East Africa
- Forum 2040coreEducation foresight collaboration using African storytelling traditions and AI for educational futures
- CATAL1.5°TminorClimate tech initiative partnering with YUX Academy for pre-acceleration of climate solutions through UX IN CLIMATE program
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
YUX Design competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- IDEO.org: Nonprofit design firm spun out of IDEO focused on social impact and human-centered design in low-income markets including Africa. Closest direct comparable given similar methodology (HCD), donor-funded client base, and African portfolio.
- Dalberg Design: Design practice within Dalberg Advisors serving foundations, multilaterals, and governments on development-sector innovation. Directly comparable in client mix (Gates, foundations), African footprint, and HCD + digital product delivery model.
- Huge: Global digital product design agency serving enterprise clients. Direct competitor for the design leg of YUX's engagements (especially fintech and consumer tech work for Big Tech clients).
Broad incumbents
- frog (Capgemini Engineering): Global design and engineering consultancy now part of Capgemini. Competes for the same enterprise digital-product mandates YUX serves; broader portfolio but weaker African local-context expertise.
- Designit (Wipro): Global design strategy and UX consultancy owned by Wipro. Similar service offering (research, strategy, design, innovation) and overlaps on enterprise UX work; larger scale but no African specialization.
- Thoughtworks: Global technology consultancy with strong design and product engineering practices. Competes for enterprise digital transformation work across similar sectors (health, fintech) but at much larger deal sizes.
Regional players
- Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB): Nigeria-based innovation hub and venture builder focused on African tech and social impact. Comparable on African-context design and applied research, but more of a startup ecosystem player than a design services firm.
Emerging players
- Andela: African tech talent marketplace connecting engineers globally. Competes for the same African technical talent pool YUX draws from and represents both a peer and a competitor for AI/data talent in the region.
- Lelapa AI: African-focused AI research lab building NLP tools for African languages. Direct overlap with YUX's Cultural AI Lab and Wolof/Hausa ASR work; more productized, less consulting-oriented.
- MEST Africa: Pan-African entrepreneur training and seed-funding program. Comparable in training/talent-development mission (overlaps with YUX Academy) but focused on venture creation rather than design services.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
YUX Design social profiles
Digital presenceYUX Design financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
YUX Design leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
YUX Design subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries4 records
YUX Design funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
YUX Design 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 YUX Design
What does YUX Design do?
YUX Design is a pan-African research and design company that combines social sciences, design thinking, and technology to co-create user-centered products and services for African communities. Its core service is project-based UX research, behavioral insights, and HCD/UX-UI design consulting delivered to NGOs, foundations, tech companies, and governments across health, education, agriculture, and fintech sectors. The company also operates proprietary software products (LOOKA market research software, Kitala.ai data annotation platform) and an AI research lab focused on African-language model fine-tuning.
Is YUX Design a public or private company?
YUX Design is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was YUX Design founded?
YUX Design was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is YUX Design based?
YUX Design is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, in the Africa region.
How does YUX Design make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Research & Design Consulting is the primary driver. The others are software Products and training & Fellowship Programs.
Who are YUX Design's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are IDEO.org, Dalberg Design and Huge. Broad incumbents are frog (Capgemini Engineering), Designit (Wipro) and Thoughtworks. Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) is listed as a regional player. Emerging players are Andela, Lelapa AI and MEST Africa.
Does YUX Design have an API?
No public API is recorded for YUX Design.
What industry is YUX Design in?
YUX Design's product category is UX Research & Human-Centered Design Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAAAD, Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX), with a secondary code of BPAEAFAH, UI/UX Engineering & Front-End Modernization. Its NAICS code is 541511 and its SIC code is 7371.