Klim Type Foundry

Name

Klim Type Foundry

Legal name

The Letterheads Limited

Website

https://klim.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Font License Sales: One-time license fees for perpetual use of fonts across various formats (desktop, web, app, advertising, broadcasting, OEM). Licenses have no expiry and can be used worldwide. Base price is $60 USD for the first font style with subsequent styles at discounted rates.
2. Custom Typeface Commissions: Bespoke typeface design services for clients requiring unique, custom fonts. Examples include PayPal Sans (16 styles), Bank of New Zealand (14 styles), Sovereign coin designs, and Tourism New Zealand's Pure Pākati. Custom fonts typically not offered for retail sale but may become available after exclusivity periods.
3. Enterprise Licensing: Unlimited licensing options for corporate use across unlimited domains, apps, or users with bespoke pricing. Enterprise licenses allow distribution to affiliates, partners, agencies, and vendors with modifications permitted in some cases.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Klim Type Foundry designs, develops, and sells retail typeface families and bespoke custom typefaces under The Letterheads Limited brand. Its catalog includes approximately 28 retail font families and a portfolio of custom commissions for clients such as PayPal, the Financial Times, National Geographic, Tourism New Zealand, Bank of New Zealand, and Trade Me. All fonts are delivered as digital files with perpetual, one-off license fees covering desktop, web, app, advertising, broadcasting, and OEM use cases.

Product overview

Klim Type Foundry is a New Zealand-based type foundry operated by The Letterheads Limited, offering a portfolio of retail typeface families and custom font commissions. The core product offering consists of approximately 28 retail font families (including American Grotesk, Calibre, Die Grotesk, Domaine, Domaine Sans, Epicene, Family, Feijoa, Financier, Founders Grotesk, Geograph, Heldane, Karbon, Maelstrom, Mānuka, Martina Plantijn, Metric, National, National 2, Newzald, Pitch, Signifier, Söhne, The Future, Tiempos, Untitled Sans, and Untitled Serif) sold alongside a separate custom font commission service (with completed projects for clients including Fiji Airways, The Darling Hotel, PayPal, Tourism New Zealand, Bank of New Zealand, Trade Me, and others). All fonts are sold with a one-off licensing fee and no expiry, with licensing products covering Desktop, Web, App, Advertising, Broadcasting, OEM, and Test use cases, plus bespoke Unlimited and Enterprise licence tiers for broader organisational use.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Söhne (retail font family) Retail typeface family sold under one-off perpetual licensing in Desktop, Web, App, Advertising, Broadcasting, and OEM formats for use by designers, publishers, and brands across print and digital media.
• Founders Grotesk (retail font family) Retail typeface family available in Regular, Condensed, X-Condensed, Text, and Mono variants, sold as a perpetual license for editorial, identity, and digital typography.
• Tiempos (retail font family) Retail modern serif family for editorial typography that updates Plantin and Times for contemporary use, sold in Text, Headline, and Fine variants under perpetual licensing.
• Domaine (retail font family) Retail serif family blending traditional French and British genres into a contemporary aesthetic, with curvaceous Latin detailing and distinctive hooked terminals, sold under perpetual licensing.
• Domaine Sans (retail font family) Retail sans-serif complementing the Domaine serif family, with contrast to explore the sans-serif genre alongside the serif system.
• Die Grotesk (retail font family) Retail typeface shaped in the long shadow of Helvetica, simultaneously banal and sublime, sold under perpetual licensing for use in print and digital media.
• American Grotesk (retail font family) Retail typeface that is a reprisal of Franklin Gothic, positioned as a key part of American graphic vernacular history for persuasive communication.
• Calibre (retail font family) Retail geometric neo-grotesk sharing fundamental geometry with Metric but differing in the finish of key letterforms, drawing on the rationality of Aldo Novarese's Recta.
• National (retail font family) Retail typeface family in the Klim catalog sold under perpetual licensing for editorial and identity use.
• National 2 (retail font family) Retail typeface family comprising 64 fonts across 4 widths, expanding the original National aesthetic concept for broader editorial and branding use.
• Metric (retail font family) Retail geometric humanist sans serif inspired by lettering on West Berlin street signs, sold under perpetual licensing.
• Financier (retail font family) Retail elegant serif with British heritage inspired by Eric Gill's classic letterforms, originally drawn for the Financial Times redesign, sold under perpetual licensing.
• Geograph (retail font family) Retail contemporary geometric sans serif originally designed for National Geographic, drawing on the idealism of Futura and the pragmatism of Super Grotesk.
• Heldane (retail font family) Retail contemporary serif family inspired by renaissance typefaces, amalgamating the best details into a cohesive whole.
• Family (retail font family) Retail everyday typeface based on Clearface, keeping Clearface's easy-going curves and idiosyncrasies while updating it for modern use.
• Epicene (retail font family) Retail modernist take on Baroque letterforms without gender codifications, maintaining ornamental idiosyncrasies.
• Martina Plantijn (retail font family) Retail typeface described as 'a better Plantin', informed by Frank Hinman Pierpont's typeface, with decisive digital updates for 16th-century type.
• Feijoa (retail font family) Retail typeface in the Klim catalog sold under perpetual licensing.
• Karbon (retail font family) Retail typeface in the Klim catalog sold under perpetual licensing.
• Maelstrom (retail font family) Retail reversed-stress typeface family sold under perpetual licensing.
• Mānuka (retail font family) Retail typeface family grafting a contemporary antipodean aesthetic onto 19th-century German root-stock with deviant details from Teutonic timber type.
• Newzald (retail font family) Retail typeface in the Klim catalog sold under perpetual licensing.
• Pitch (retail font family) Retail typeface family synthesizing digital and analogue that evokes typewritten text, inspired by typewriter aesthetics including monospacing, type style, and the artefacts of struck paper.
• Signifier (retail font family) Retail typeface providing a Brutalist response to 17th-century typefaces, acknowledging the processes and tools of digital form-making.
• The Future (retail font family) Retail homage to Futura, Paul Renner's progressive classic, working from original production drawings for a careful observation of Futura's geometric architecture.
• Untitled Sans (retail font family) Retail quotidian sans-serif typeface validated by Morrison and Fukasawa's Super Normal project.
• Untitled Serif (retail font family) Retail quotidian serif typeface in the Untitled Collection, sold under perpetual licensing.
• PayPal Sans (custom font commission) Bespoke mobile-first typeface designed for PayPal Inc., aligned with humanist design principles and numeral-centric, performing excellently across all screen resolutions, comprising 16 styles.
• Pure Pākati (custom font commission) Bespoke typeface designed exclusively for Tourism New Zealand, hand-carved from kauri with the niho pattern embracing visitors as whānau.
• Bula (custom font commission) Bespoke typeface designed for Fiji Airways, inspired by Makereta Matemosi's traditional Masi patterns, an ancient art form embodying Fiji's traditions and spirit, designed with FutureBrand Sydney.
• Story Sans (custom font commission) Screen-first sans-serif custom typeface designed for Trade Me, based on Akzidenz-Grotesk, positioned as unpretentious and hardworking.
• Darling (custom font commission) Custom typeface designed for The Darling Hotel, inspired by a 1920s French typeface updated via the 1974 classic ITC American Typewriter.
• Sovereign Coin (custom font commission) Custom typeface commissioned for sovereign coin design in the Klim catalog.
• Metric FC (custom font commission) Custom font variant in the Klim catalog commissioned for enterprise use.
• Hokotohu (custom font commission) Custom typeface in the Klim catalog commissioned for a specific enterprise client.
• Serrano (custom font commission) Custom font in the Klim catalog commissioned for an enterprise client.
• Wahoo (custom font commission) Custom font in the Klim catalog commissioned for an enterprise client.
• Desktop Font Licence Perpetual one-time licence for installing and using fonts on desktop computers, priced based on number of users, with fonts delivered as OTF (and TTF for Variable Fonts).
• Web Font Licence Perpetual one-time licence for using fonts on websites, priced based on monthly page views or unique users, with fonts delivered in WOFF2 format.
• App Font Licence Perpetual one-time licence for embedding fonts in mobile, desktop, or web apps, priced based on monthly active users (MAUs) or total downloads, with fonts delivered as TTF.
• Advertising Font Licence Perpetual one-time licence for using fonts in TV commercials and promotional videos for paid advertising online, via social media, and/or TV networks, priced based on monthly impressions per media buy.
• Broadcasting Font Licence Perpetual one-time licence for using fonts across broadcasting networks or within TV shows, films, or content intended for broadcast, priced based on production budget or audience size.
• OEM Font Licence Perpetual one-time licence for embedding fonts within operating systems for hardware devices, priced based on number of devices, with fonts delivered as OTF and TTF for Variable Fonts.
• Test Font Licence Free licence allowing users to test fonts within their organisation for evaluation purposes before purchasing a full licence.
• Unlimited Web Font Licence Bespoke licence for using fonts on unlimited domains or websites with unlimited page views, including provisions for affiliates, partners, and external parties, with bespoke pricing via sales.
• Unlimited App Font Licence Bespoke licence for using fonts on unlimited apps (web-based, desktop, and mobile) with unlimited MAUs and downloads, with bespoke pricing via sales.
• Enterprise Font Licence Bespoke licence for distributing fonts to affiliates, agencies, partners, vendors, and contractors across various mediums without restriction, with bespoke pricing via sales.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free test fonts available for full catalogue evaluation
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core infrastructure, minor and notable project.

• Stripecore infrastructureOthersStripe is used to securely process all credit card transactions on klim.co.nz. Klim does not store or directly process credit card data. This is a standard payment processing service relationship.
• Campaign Monitorcore infrastructureOthersEmail marketing platform used to deliver newsletters and marketing communications to subscribers. Email addresses are shared with Campaign Monitor only for subscribers who have signed up to receive emails.
• Google AnalyticsminorOthersWeb analytics platform used to understand website traffic patterns, operating systems, browsers, and purchase behaviors. Used to improve customer experience on the site.
• FutureBrandnotable projectStrategic or Co-development PartnerFutureBrand Sydney commissioned Klim to create the custom Bula typeface for Fiji Airways rebranding. FutureBrand created the overall brand identity while Klim designed the custom typeface inspired by traditional Masi patterns.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Production Type: Independent French foundry offering retail and custom typefaces with strong editorial and brand identity work, structurally similar to Klim's catalogue-and-commission mix.
• Hoefler & Co. Long-established independent American foundry combining retail licensing (Cloud-based) and high-profile custom commissions; very comparable business model and brand-tier clientele.
• Grilli Type: Independent Swiss type foundry with a similar direct-to-consumer retail model and a roster of highly regarded retail typefaces and custom commissions. Closely comparable in scale, brand reputation, and customer base.
• Type Together: Independent foundry co-founded by designers Veronika Burian and José Scaglione, selling retail typefaces and custom work to brands. Comparable boutique structure and licensing model to Klim.
• Frere-Jones Type: Boutique foundry led by a single award-winning designer selling retail typefaces and custom commissions, mirroring Klim's designer-led structure.
• Optimo: Independent type studio with retail catalogue and custom commissions, similar size and aesthetic positioning as Klim.
• House Industries: Independent design company that designs and licenses retail typefaces alongside custom typography for major brands, a close analogue to Klim's dual retail/commission model.
• Commercial Type: Independent type foundry selling retail typefaces and custom commissions to major brands, with a comparable boutique structure and premium positioning. Directly overlaps with Klim in editorial and identity clients.

Emerging players

• Future Fonts: Online platform connecting independent type designers to buyers with flexible licensing; partial overlap as a marketplace alternative to Klim's direct-to-consumer model.

Broad incumbents

• Monotype: The largest global player in type licensing, owning Linotype, ITC, and many independent foundries. Overlaps with Klim's licensing model but operates at vastly greater scale and breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubevimeo.com/user20273759
• Instagraminstagram.com/klim_type_foundry
• Pinterestpinterest.com/klimtype
• Xx.com/klimtypefoundry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/klim-type-foundry

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 Klim Type Foundry