Eight
Eight Inc. is a privately held, global experience design consultancy serving enterprise brands across retail, automotive, hospitality, and lifestyle sectors through 10 studios in 7 cities, anchored by a 25+ year partnership with Apple.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1989
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Eight does
Eight Inc. is a privately held global experience design consultancy founded in 1989 in San Francisco by Tim Kobe, operating 10 studios across 7 cities (San Francisco, New York, London, Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo) with 200+ designers, strategists, and practitioners spanning 7 time zones and 3 continents. The firm's service portfolio is organized around four experience realms — Environments, Products & Services, Communications, and Behaviours — and covers experience design, brand identity, architecture, interior design, retail design, urban development, workplace design, motion design, UX/UI, copywriting, and strategy. The client roster includes Apple (25+ year continuous partnership since 1999, covering 500+ retail store designs), McLaren, Nike, Lincoln, Jumeirah, Virgin, Dolby, Nissan, SaladStop!, and Felissimo, spanning technology, automotive, hospitality, entertainment, and lifestyle sectors.
The firm operates as a project-based professional services consultancy with bespoke, quote-based pricing per engagement and no publicly disclosed rates. Distribution is direct through the studio network, with named partner contacts in each city driving local business development, supplemented by top-of-funnel demand generation through thought leadership at industry events (e.g., NYCxDESIGN Festival 2025) and awards recognition (Red Dot, German Design, iF, Archiproducts, DNA Paris, Biophilic, City of Kobe Urban Design). Revenue is generated entirely through enterprise project fees, with no disclosed recurring revenue, subscription model, or productized offering. Geographic coverage spans North America, Europe, the Middle East, Greater China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, with named country presence in the USA, UAE, UK, China, Singapore, and Japan.
The business is anchored by multi-decade relationships with marquee global brands — most notably Apple, with whom the firm has worked continuously since Steve Jobs engaged it in 1999 to reimagine retail. Attributed outcomes include the Apple Store described as the highest-grossing retail store in history, a 190.6% sales increase and top-three market ranking for Lincoln dealerships in China following the Lincoln Way program, 12,450 Lincoln vehicles sold in the first half-year post-launch, and 3-hour dwell times at Virgin Lounges. The firm is independently held with no parent company or public listing; structured data shows no funding rounds with disclosed terms, though the additional input lists Cota Capital engagements in 2016 and 2017 with undisclosed amounts. Founder and chairman Tim Kobe passed away on January 28, 2026 in California, and the firm remains operational.
Eight firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Eight
- Legal name
- Eight Inc.
- Website
- https://eightinc.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1989
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Eight Inc. is a privately held, global experience design consultancy serving enterprise brands across retail, automotive, hospitality, and lifestyle sectors through 10 studios in 7 cities, anchored by a 25+ year partnership with Apple.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Eight industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Experience Design Consulting
- NAICS
- Interior Design Services (541410), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Graphic Design Services (541430)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Environmental & Experiential Brand Design (Retail/Exhibit/Signage) (MPAAAEAG)
Keywords
Where Eight is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices7 records
Markets served
Eight business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Professional Services: Design consulting and implementation services for enterprise clients across experience design, architecture, interior design, brand identity, and digital environments. Revenue generated through project-based engagements with major global brands.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Eight product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Eight Inc. is a global experience design consultancy that creates meaningful brand experiences across physical and digital environments for enterprise clients. The firm delivers integrated services spanning experience design, brand identity, architecture, interior design, retail design, urban development, workplace design, environmental design, motion design, UX/UI design, and strategic consulting, anchored by a holistic four-realm framework (Environments, Products & Services, Communications, Behaviours).
Product overview
Eight Inc. is a global experience design consultancy operating across 10 studios in 7 time zones with 200+ designers. The company offers a unified service portfolio centered on four experience realms: Environments, Products & Services, Communications, and Behaviours. Services include Experience Design, Brand Identity, Architecture, Interior Design, Retail Design, Urban Development, Workplace Design, Environmental Design, Motion Design, Product Launches, Training, Customer Experience, UX/UI Design, Copywriting, Strategy, and Thought Leadership. The company maintains long-term partnerships with major global brands including Apple (25+ years), McLaren, Nike, Lincoln, Jumeirah, and Virgin. Their approach applies consistent principles of simplification, material honesty, and seamless integration across physical and digital touchpoints.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Experience Design Strategic experience design service that connects people with brands through holistic, human-centered approaches across physical and digital environments, anchored by Four experience realms (Environments, Products & Services, Communications, Behaviours). For enterprise clients seeking brand transformation.
- Brand Identity Development of visual and verbal brand systems including logos, typography, color theory, and tone of voice that unify brand expression across all touchpoints. For enterprise clients seeking brand systems.
- Architecture Spatial design and architectural language development for retail environments, corporate campuses, and public spaces that treat buildings as brand interfaces. For enterprise clients seeking flagship physical environments.
- Interior Design Interior environments designed to reflect brand values and enhance user experience through material selection, layout optimization, and immersive installations. For enterprise clients across retail, hospitality, and workplace.
- Retail Design End-to-end retail environment creation including customer experience strategy, store layouts, and friction-free commerce environments. For global retail and brand clients.
- Urban Development Mixed-use facility design and waterfront revitalization projects that contribute to community engagement and urban renaissance. For municipal and real estate clients.
- Workplace Design Flexible workspace environments designed for adaptability, collaboration, and organizational transformation. For enterprise clients.
- Environmental Design Immersive physical environments that create emotional connections through spatial storytelling and environmental graphics. For brands and venues.
- Motion Design Dynamic visual identity elements and motion toolkits that bring brand expressions to life through movement and animation. For enterprise brand clients.
- UX/UI Design Digital interface design focused on human-centric navigation, cohesive user journeys, and brand-consistent digital expressions. For enterprise digital clients.
- Strategy Strategic consulting for brand positioning, market entry, and organizational transformation aligned with experience design principles. For enterprise clients.
- Customer Experience Design Omnichannel experience design that creates seamless, personalized customer journeys across physical and digital ecosystems. For enterprise clients.
Quantifiable outcome
- 190.6% increase in Sales for Lincoln China dealerships
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Eight
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Eight technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Eight partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators8 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Eight competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Designworks (BMW Group): In-house design consultancy of BMW with brand and experience design practice serving external clients — adjacent rather than purely competitive, useful benchmark for enterprise design engagements.
Direct peers
- IDEO: Pioneering experience and human-centered design consultancy with global offices, serving enterprise clients across products, services and environments — the closest direct analogue to Eight's integrated experience-design offering.
- RKS Design: Strategy-through-execution design firm delivering brand, product and experience design — comparable multi-disciplinary model and similar enterprise client mix.
- Smart Design: Product and experience design consultancy combining industrial design, UX and brand strategy — closely comparable mid-size competitor for experience-led enterprise engagements.
- Pentagram: Partner-owned design consultancy working across brand identity, environments and digital — comparable multi-disciplinary creative model and similar mix of A-list enterprise clients.
- Lippincott: Brand strategy and design consultancy working at the intersection of brand identity and customer experience — directly comparable in serving Fortune 500 brand and experience engagements.
- frog (Capgemini Engineering): Global design and engineering firm delivering brand, product and experience strategy for Fortune 500 clients — competes directly for the same enterprise experience-design mandates as Eight.
- Landor & Fitch: Global brand and experience design consultancy (WPP) specialising in brand strategy, retail and spatial design — competes for many of the same retail and automotive experience mandates as Eight.
Broad incumbents
- Gensler: Largest global architecture and design firm with deep retail and hospitality practices — overlaps with Eight on retail-environment and brand-space work but operates at much greater scale and breadth.
- Wieden+Kennedy: Independent creative agency known for retail and brand-experience work for Nike, Coca-Cola and others — overlaps with Eight on Nike-class environmental and experiential engagements.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Eight social profiles
Digital presenceEight financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Eight leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Eight funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Eight 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 Eight
What does Eight do?
Eight Inc. is a global experience design consultancy that creates meaningful brand experiences across physical and digital environments for enterprise clients. The firm delivers integrated services spanning experience design, brand identity, architecture, interior design, retail design, urban development, workplace design, environmental design, motion design, UX/UI design, and strategic consulting, anchored by a holistic four-realm framework (Environments, Products & Services, Communications, Behaviours).
When was Eight founded?
Eight was founded in 1989. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Eight based?
Eight is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Eight make money?
One revenue line is on record: professional Services.
Who are Eight's main competitors?
Designworks (BMW Group) is listed as an others. Direct peers are IDEO, RKS Design, Smart Design, Pentagram, Lippincott, frog (Capgemini Engineering) and Landor & Fitch. Broad incumbents are Gensler and Wieden+Kennedy.
Does Eight have an API?
No public API is recorded for Eight.
What industry is Eight in?
Eight's product category is Experience Design Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAL, Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design, with a secondary code of MPAAAEAG, Environmental & Experiential Brand Design (Retail/Exhibit/Signage). Its NAICS code is 541410 and its SIC code is 8700.