What Karoshi does

Karoshi (legally Team Karoshi Limited) is a London-based, multi-disciplinary design consultancy founded in 2006 that works across the full lifecycle of brand work — creating, evolving, implementing, and nurturing brand identities. Its practice spans brand strategy, naming, identity systems, print and digital design, animation, illustration, and photography art direction. Service delivery is intentionally principal-led: the firm operates with a compact team of 1–10 employees out of its Richmond, London headquarters, ensuring clients deal directly with senior designers rather than junior account handlers. The work is organised around bespoke consulting engagements rather than packaged products, with pricing set through direct principal-led engagement rather than published rate cards.

Customers are highly diversified across sectors, including enterprise (eBay, Yakult, NC3Rs), mid-market firms (Paramount estate agents, NB Flowers, Above+Beyond), early-stage ventures (Thanda, DOOH.com, HeadBox, Silk Factory), and nonprofits (Butterfly Trust, My Life Films, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Myeloma UK). Notable engagements include multi-year brand evolutions such as a 10-year partnership with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers serving 100,000 members, and the Love Your Gut campaign that reached nearly 200,000 members of the public. Revenue flows through professional services fees tied to project scope and retainer relationships, with no public pricing schedule or subscription product in market. Distribution is direct — principals engage enterprise and mid-market clients in person — supported by a portfolio website, LinkedIn, Behance, Creativepool, and a journal/newsletter for thought leadership content. No external funding, acquisitions, partnerships, subsidiaries, or geographic expansion beyond the United Kingdom are disclosed in the available material.

Name

Karoshi

Legal name

Team Karoshi Limited

Website

https://teamkaroshi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Karoshi is a London-based, multi-disciplinary design consultancy founded in 2006 that creates, evolves, implements, and nurtures brand identities for a diverse mix of enterprises, mid-market firms, startups, and nonprofit clients through principal-led creative engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Design Consultancy Services: Professional design and branding consultancy services for creating, evolving, implementing and nurturing brand identities for diverse clients across multiple sectors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Karoshi is a multi-disciplinary design consultancy that creates, evolves, implements and nurtures brand identities for organisations across sectors. Its core offerings include brand strategy, brand naming, brand identity design, print design, digital design, animation, illustration, and photography art direction, delivered as bespoke professional consulting engagements rather than standardised products.

Product overview

Karoshi is a multi-disciplinary design consultancy that addresses brand challenges. They provide creative services including brand strategy, brand identity, print design, digital design, animation, illustration, and photography art direction. Their services are delivered as professional consulting engagements rather than packaged software products, working with clients on brand naming, identity systems, marketing collateral, and visual communication solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Identity Design Design and development of brand identity systems including logos, visual identity guidelines, and brand applications for organisations across sectors.
• Brand Strategy Strategic brand thinking covering positioning, messaging, and direction-setting work to underpin visual identity and communications.
• Brand Naming Creation of brand names for clients, including naming strategy and naming rationale tied to brand positioning.
• Print Design Design of printed collateral and physical brand expressions including packaging, publications, and marketing materials.
• Digital Design Design of digital brand expressions including websites, apps, and digital communications.
• Animation and Illustration Motion and illustrative brand expressions supporting identity systems and campaigns.
• Photography Art Direction Art direction of photography projects to support brand and communications needs.
• App Development Development of mobile or digital applications as part of broader brand and digital design engagements for clients such as the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 200,000 members of the public actively sought advice through Love Your Gut campaign
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Largest independent design consultancy globally, with a London office covering brand identity, graphic design, and digital. Comparable as a London-based brand identity competitor, but operates at a meaningfully larger scale with multiple partners and broader capability.
• Saffron Brand Consultants: Global brand strategy and identity consultancy. Comparable on brand strategy and identity services for enterprise clients, though at meaningfully larger scale and with a stronger strategic consulting tilt than Karoshi's craft-led offering.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy with London HQ offering brand strategy, identity, and experience design. Comparable in the same brand-consulting category and overlapping client types (enterprise, mission-driven), but competes across a wider capability range and at larger deal sizes.
• Landor: Global branding consultancy with a long-standing London presence covering brand strategy, identity, and design. Comparable on the brand identity and visual communication axis but competes at a much larger enterprise scale, often winning the same RFPs Karoshi would target.

Direct peers

• Made Thought: London design studio working on brand, digital, and packaging for cultural and consumer clients. Comparable in service mix (brand identity, visual systems) and London boutique positioning, though typically at the larger end of the size band.
• B&B Studio: London-based branding and packaging design consultancy of comparable boutique size. Directly comparable as a UK boutique working on brand identity, packaging, and creative strategy for similar cross-sector clients (charity, consumer, enterprise).
• Carter Wong: London brand identity and graphic design consultancy. Direct peer operating in the same boutique branding space, serving charity, cultural, and enterprise clients with comparable visual identity and brand strategy services.
• Studio Output: Independent London design studio specialising in brand identity, motion, and digital design. Comparable as a similarly-sized creative-led consultancy targeting the same enterprise and cultural clients with overlapping service lines (brand, digital, motion).

Emerging players

• Superdream: UK-based creative agency working on brand identity, digital, and campaigns. Comparable in the cross-sector brand and digital design space and in the small/mid-sized agency tier that overlaps with Karoshi's typical client profiles.
• Walsh (Walsh: Independent design studio with strong brand identity and motion work. Comparable in boutique positioning and craft-led approach, but primarily US-based — useful as a same-category reference rather than a direct UK competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/teamkaroshi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/karoshi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Karoshi