What Smooth Sailing does

Smooth Sailing BV is a privately held Belgian design studio headquartered in Leuven (Sluisstraat 79/03.01), founded in 2020 by Hannes D'Hulster. The firm operates as a research-driven design agency with fewer than 10 employees, structured around three professional service offerings: UX/UI Design (turning scrappy MVPs into self-servicing, scalable products via research, prototyping, visual design, and design systems), Product Management (roadmap clarity, discovery, scoping, and faster decision-making), and Team and Leadership (hiring support, coaching, and change management for scaling product organizations). Its signature methodology is the proprietary "Feature Passports" framework, a cross-discipline documentation approach covering value, metrics, long-term vision, FAQ, terminology, behavior, research conclusions, known issues, and open questions.

The company's go-to-market is sales-led and consultative: client acquisition runs primarily through inbound traffic to its website (Calendly bookings), LinkedIn presence, and direct outreach within the Belgian and broader European SaaS ecosystem. Revenue is generated through project-based and retainer-style professional services engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed and appears quote-based. Marketing is anchored on thought-leadership content (blog "opinions" section covering design, accessibility, usability, product management, and design systems), a community/events presence anchored by the recurring "Women in Product" dinner series co-hosted with Amplitude, and a "Durable Design" positioning that emphasizes internalizing design capability within client teams. The firm also maintains an external compliance profile via WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance on its own website.

Target customers are early- to mid-stage SaaS startups facing three explicit pain points: MVPs built by engineers generating UI complaints, slow feature development caused by unclear priorities, and motivated but inexperienced teams lacking direction. Named customer logos span seven organizations across supply chain (Solventure), sustainability/LCA (ecoinvent), chemical/manufacturing (Effex), email marketing (Flexmail), benefits management (Payflip), workplace optimization (Izix), and impact/climate (Impact us today), with documented outcomes including onboarding-time reductions from months to days (Flexmail) and from 12–15 hours to 2 hours self-serve (Payflip), and a team scaling from 12 to 43 people at ecoinvent. Smooth Sailing BV is owned and operated without external investors or parent entities, operating under Belgian private limited company status (VAT BE 0787 723 538).

Name

Smooth Sailing

Legal name

Smooth Sailing BV

Website

https://smoothsailing.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Smooth Sailing is a privately held Belgian design studio of fewer than 10 people that helps SaaS startups scale through UX/UI design, product management, and team and leadership consulting engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Leuven

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Professional services revenue model through consulting engagements. The company helps SaaS startups scale in product, process, and people through UX/UI design, product management, and team/leadership services. Engagements appear to be project-based or retainer-style consulting.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Smooth Sailing is a research-driven design studio that helps SaaS startups scale in product, process, and people. The studio delivers three core service lines: UX/UI Design (turning scrappy MVPs into scalable, self-servicing user experiences through research, prototyping, and design systems), Product Management (roadmap and discovery guidance), and Team and Leadership (hiring, coaching, and change management).

Product overview

Smooth Sailing is a research-driven design agency that helps SaaS startups scale in product, process, and people. They offer three core service offerings: UX/UI Design (turning MVPs into scalable user experiences through user research, prototyping, and design systems), Product Management (strategic guidance for roadmaps, discovery, and decision-making), and Team and Leadership (coaching, hiring support, and change management for growing teams). Their approach is centered on 'Durable Design' — a philosophy focused on internalizing design mindset within client organizations. Unlike a software product company, Smooth Sailing delivers professional services including user research, interface design, product strategy, and team development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• UX/UI Design

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced onboarding time from months to days (Flexmail)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AmplitudeminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 6 October 2022Co-hosted the second Women in Product dinner event together. Amplitude participated as a partner for this networking event for women in the product scene.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Designit: Global design and innovation consultancy (Wipro-owned) with strong EMEA presence serving SaaS, financial services and enterprise clients. Overlapping capabilities across UX research, product design, and team enablement.
• IDEO: Iconic global design and innovation consultancy working on product, service, and organizational design. Differs in scale and brand but highly comparable in the research-driven, outcomes-focused positioning.
• Sinner Schrader (now part of Accenture Song): Long-standing European digital product design and engineering consultancy serving enterprise and scale-up SaaS buyers. Comparable service mix (UX, product strategy, team enablement) but much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Netlife: Swiss product design and engineering studio serving enterprise and growth-stage clients - directly comparable geographic and segment overlap with Smooth Sailing's Belgian/CHE footprint and SaaS focus.
• Ustwo: Global product studio delivering UX, product design and engineering for digital businesses. Comparable product-design-services model with an emphasis on durable, end-to-end product outcomes rather than pure visual design.
• Clay: Global product design and engineering studio specializing in UX/UI, design systems, and product enablement for SaaS and fintech clients. Direct overlap on services, customer type, and outcome-based engagement model.
• madewithlove: Belgian digital product studio building SaaS products for startups and scale-ups, founded by Jonas. Smooth Sailing was originally launched with support from madewithlove and operates in the identical Belgian product-design niche.
• Work & Co: Product studio building digital products for trusted brands with an emphasis on small senior teams producing measurable digital product outcomes - closely aligned with Smooth Sailing's 'durable design' thesis.

Emerging players

• Hugmun: European product and design studio with comparable service mix for early-stage SaaS clients; smaller and earlier stage but operating in the same niche.
• Manual: European design and development studio serving startups with similar SaaS-focused GTM and outcomes-based case study emphasis to Smooth Sailing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smooth-sailing
• Xx.com/sailingstudio

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Smooth Sailing