What Berg does

Berg is a London-based design consultancy and product studio founded in 2005 (Berg Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 5467952) that develops connected hardware products and cloud platforms at the intersection of networks and physical things. Its core technology is BERG Cloud, a proprietary cloud platform providing APIs, user management, fleet management, and push content delivery for web-powered connected devices, anchored by the Little Printer consumer product launched in December 2012, a connected thermal printer that aggregates subscribed digital content into physical mini-newspapers. In May 2013 the company opened the platform externally through BERG Cloud Dev Kits for Arduino and Raspberry Pi, with Twitter's #Flock connected cuckoo clock as the first third-party product validation.

Berg operates a hybrid business model combining enterprise design consultancy services (BBC, Bonnier, Nokia, Channel 4, Dentsu London, New York Times, Twitter, Hodder) with direct-to-consumer hardware sales of Little Printer devices and consumables via bergcloud.com, plus developer kit sales and content subscription revenue through the BERG Cloud Push Publication API. Distribution covers USA, Canada, EU, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The company is privately held with no disclosed external venture funding prior to an October 2013 $1.3M round led by Connect Ventures with Index Ventures, and was led by founders Matt Webb, Matt Jones, and Jack Schulze with a team of approximately 14-19 people as of 2013.

Name

Berg

Legal name

Berg Ltd.

Website

https://berglondon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Berg is a London-based design consultancy and product studio founded in 2005 that develops connected hardware products, including the Little Printer, and the BERG Cloud platform for enterprise clients like BBC, Bonnier, and Nokia, alongside consumer device sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Consultancy & Connected IoT Products

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Software Publishers (513210), Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Data, Analytics & AI Consulting (BPAHAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Managed Application Platforms (App PaaS & Runtime Services) (HDABAAAD), Cloud Managed Services (Operations, Monitoring, Patching) (BPAEACAF), Work Management & Collaboration Suites (BPAMAMAG)

Keywords

• Design consultancy services
• Connected product development
• IoT cloud platform
• Hardware product design
• Interaction design services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Design Consultancy Services: Strategy and special projects for enterprise clients including workshops, product invention, and client collaborations with companies like BBC, Bonnier, Nokia, Channel 4, Dentsu London, and others.
2. Little Printer Hardware Sales: Sale of Little Printer connected device to consumers. The device is sold directly via bergcloud.com e-commerce with global shipping to USA, Canada, EU, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
3. BERG Cloud Developer Kits: Sale of BERG Cloud dev boards and development kits enabling developers to build connected products using Arduino or Raspberry Pi with access to BERG Cloud APIs.
4. Publications and Content Platform: Push publication API and content partnerships including New York Times. Publishers can create content for Little Printer, generating revenue through subscriptions and content delivery.
5. Consumables (Paper): Sale of Little Printer paper rolls - BPA-free thermal paper with recycled and recyclable core, sold via bergcloud.com shop.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

BERG was a London-based design consultancy founded in 2005 that worked hands-on with companies to research and develop technologies and strategies, primarily by finding opportunities in networks and physical things. The studio built and commercialized the BERG Cloud platform, a cloud operating system for connected physical products providing APIs, user management, fleet management, and push content delivery, and shipped Little Printer, a connected home thermal printer that gathered web content into printed mini-newspapers.

Product overview

BERG was a design consultancy that operated primarily from 2005 to 2013, working hands-on with companies to research and develop technologies and strategies focused on networks and physical things. The company's portfolio included both client work and self-initiated products. The core platform was BERG Cloud, which powered connected products and was made available to developers via BERG Cloud Dev Kits. The primary consumer product was Little Printer, a personal connected thermal printer. BERG also developed digital publishing solutions (Mag+ for Bonnier AB), interactive historical visualization tools (BBC Dimensions: How Big Really, How Many Really), and numerous experimental projects including augmented reality toys (Suwappu), social radio (Olinda), robot-readable signage (Clocks), and speculative design explorations (Lab-Grown Meat, Here & There maps). The company collaborated with major clients including BBC, Bonnier, Nokia, Dentsu London, Channel 4, and Guardian.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Berg Cloud: Cloud platform for connected products and devices, including Little Printer and developer tools.
• Little Printer

Products and services

• BERG Cloud A cloud platform for web-powered connected products providing APIs for device connectivity, user management, fleet management, and push content delivery. Used to build Little Printer and made available to third-party developers through BERG Cloud Dev Kits.
• Little Printer A connected home thermal printer that gathers news, puzzles, and content from friends via smartphone-managed subscriptions and prints them as a personalized mini-newspaper. The primary consumer hardware product powered by BERG Cloud.
• BERG Cloud Dev Kits Development boards and kits that allow developers to build connected products using Arduino or Raspberry Pi, with snap-on BERG Cloud connectivity providing APIs, user management, and fleet management features.
• Design Consultancy Services Strategy workshops, special projects, product invention workshops, and digital/physical product design engagements delivered for enterprise clients in media, publishing, broadcasting, and technology including BBC, Bonnier, Nokia, Channel 4, and Dentsu London.
• Mag+ A digital publishing platform and approach for bringing magazine content to touchscreen tablets, with focus on digital media design. Developed by BERG for Bonnier AB.
• Little Printer Paper BPA-free thermal paper rolls with a recycled and recyclable core sold as consumables for Little Printer via the bergcloud.com e-commerce shop.

Quantifiable outcome

• Little Printer was shortlisted for Design Museum's Designs of the Year 2013
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TwittercoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2013#Flock connected cuckoo clocks - first third-party product using BERG Cloud platform. Clocks sing when users are retweeted, followed, or have tweets faved. Limited edition items awarded to select partners including O2 (Telefonica).
• New York TimescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Major push publication partnership for Little Printer - breaking news content delivered through the device. Major new capability in the API enabled push content at any time.
• FabricaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Collaboration on Sandbox workshops and physical computing projects. BERG team members conducted workshops at Fabrica in Italy.
• LuckybiteminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Collaborative design studio sharing studio space with BERG. Working together on workshops and projects including Chaco.
• Newspaper ClubminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2013Sharing studio space with BERG at Epworth House. Both companies part of the London design/tech community.
• Dentsu LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Multiple collaborations including Suwappu (woodland creatures with augmented reality), Media Surfaces projects (Incidental Media and The Journey), and Making Future Magic creative project.
• BBCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Multiple collaborations including BBC Dimensions project (howbigreally.com) - interactive visualization platform overlaying historical events on maps. Also Shownar project for tracking online buzz around BBC TV and radio programmes.
• BonniercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Mag+ project - BERG developed approach for bringing paper magazines to digital media with focus on touchscreen tablets. Bonnier AB is a major Swedish media company.
• NokiaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Nokia Personalisation project (2006) - exploring device customization interfaces and approaches.
• Channel 4minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Schooloscope project - turning official government data about schools into easy-to-read formats with visual indicators.
• HodderminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Michel Thomas app project - unique interface design for language-learning methodology application.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Particle (formerly Spark): IoT cloud platform offering developer kits and connectivity APIs for connected hardware products. Directly comparable to BERG Cloud platform and dev kit offering, but with broader enterprise focus.
• Tomorrow Lab: Small design and engineering studio building connected hardware products for startups and enterprises. Similar size and dual consultancy/product model to BERG, with emphasis on prototyping and small-batch manufacturing.

Broad incumbents

• Smart Design: Product design consultancy with connected device and consumer electronics expertise. Comparable to BERG's Little Printer and connected hardware design work, though at larger scale.
• Frog Design: Global product design and strategy consultancy with strong connected hardware and design research practices. Comparable to BERG's design-led innovation work for large technology and media clients.
• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy serving major enterprise clients on technology strategy and product invention. Operates at much larger scale but with overlapping service offering and client profile to BERG's BBC/Bonnier/Nokia engagements.
• Pentagram: Multidisciplinary design consultancy working across digital, product, and brand. Overlaps with BERG's design consultancy work but is broader in scope (graphic, brand, product) and does not produce connected hardware.
• Lunar Design: Product design consultancy with hardware/consumer electronics focus. Comparable to BERG's product invention practice and connected device work for enterprise clients.
• Map (design consultancy): London-based design consultancy specializing in physical and digital product design. Operates in same geography as BERG with overlapping connected device and digital product design capabilities.

Direct peers

• ustwo: London-based digital design studio that also builds and ships its own products (apps, games, Mindline). Most directly comparable peer: same city, same dual model of consultancy work plus self-initiated consumer products with subscription/hardware elements.
• Tellart: Experience design studio that designs connected hardware and interactive products for major brands. Closely comparable to BERG's connected product design methodology and hybrid consultancy/product model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bergcloud

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

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 Berg