CHILI GraFx
CHILI GraFx is an API-first Creative Automation platform that uses proprietary Smart Templates and AI-driven design to help brands, agencies, retailers, and ISVs produce high-volume, on-brand, personalized graphics across digital and print channels.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersAalst, Belgium
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What CHILI GraFx does
CHILI GraFx, operated by Belgium-based CHILI publish NV, is an API-first Creative Automation platform designed to produce high-volume, on-brand graphical content for brands, agencies, retailers, and independent software vendors. Founded in 2011 in Aalst, Belgium, the company has built a proprietary Smart Templates technology that enables non-designers to create or modify branded assets while keeping brand-locked elements intact, and supports intelligent variant production across digital and print channels. The platform layers AI-driven design automation over a headless GraFx Environment API, a visual GraFx Studio design surface, a Brand Kit for asset management, and a Connector Framework with pre-built integrations to DAM, PIM, CRM, and ERP systems. Strategic technology partnerships with Sitecore (2020) and Acquia (2024) extend the platform into adjacent content and digital experience ecosystems.
The company operates a B2B enterprise SaaS subscription model with quote-based pricing, annual and multi-year contracts, and a self-serve free trial for evaluation. Go-to-market combines direct enterprise field sales with channel distribution (notably SS&C in France) and product-led growth via the free trial. CHILI GraFx serves 250+ customers across more than 25 countries with offices in Belgium (Aalst HQ), the United States (New York), and Singapore (APAC). Named enterprise customers include Airbus, Carrefour, Sodexo, Subway, Colruyt Group, Intermarché, and Precision Marketing, with documented outcomes such as 1.1 million personalized offers (Carrefour), 4.5 million personalized mailers (Subway), and 35% automation of recurring orders (Colruyt Group).
Since founding, CHILI GraFx has raised approximately €19.175 million in venture capital across four rounds (Series A of €2.55M led by Volta Ventures in 2017, €3.625M in 2019, €3M in 2020, and €10M in 2022), with founders retaining majority ownership. The company holds ISO 27001:2022 certification and GDPR compliance, positioning it for enterprise procurement requirements. Leadership comprises co-founders Kevin Goeminne (CEO), Bram Verniest (COO), and Ward De Langhe (CTO), supplemented by VPs of Marketing, Sales & Alliances, and Customer Success, with Volta Ventures' Michel Akkermans and Showpad co-founder Louis Jonckheere on the Board.
CHILI GraFx firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CHILI GraFx
- Legal name
- CHILI publish NV
- Website
- https://chili-publish.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- CHILI GraFx is an API-first Creative Automation platform that uses proprietary Smart Templates and AI-driven design to help brands, agencies, retailers, and ISVs produce high-volume, on-brand, personalized graphics across digital and print channels.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CHILI GraFx industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Creative Automation Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Brand Experience (BX) & Service Design (BPAFAEAI)
Keywords
Where CHILI GraFx is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Aalst
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
CHILI GraFx business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription: Software-as-a-Service subscription model for CHILI GraFx platform access. Annual and multi-year contract options available based on enterprise agreements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise agreements with custom pricing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
CHILI GraFx product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CHILI GraFx is a Creative Automation platform that enables brands, agencies, retailers, and ISVs to produce high-volume, on-brand, personalized graphical content across multiple channels from a single design source. Built on an API-first architecture with proprietary Smart Templates technology, it allows non-designers to self-serve on-brand assets while maintaining central brand control and supporting integration with DAM, PIM, CRM, and ERP systems.
Product overview
CHILI GraFx is a Creative Automation platform that combines a core platform with specialized tools and modules for multichannel graphics production. The main platform, CHILI GraFx, includes Smart Templates as its core enabling technology, GraFx Studio as the design authoring environment, GraFx Environment as the API/headless layer, and a Connector Framework for DAM/PIM/CRM/ERP integrations. GraFx Studio features include Components for reusable design elements and Brand Kit for brand management. The platform serves Brands, Agencies, Retailers, and ISVs with solutions for shopper marketing, brand enablement, web-to-print automation, variable data printing, direct mail automation, and ad building. The platform operates on an API-first approach enabling integration with external systems and headless graphical production.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- GraFx Studio: A creative automation studio within the CHILI GraFx platform for designing and automating on-brand graphics at scale.
- GraFx Environment
- GraFx Smart Templates
Products and services
- CHILI GraFx Creative Automation platform that brings together all stakeholders in creative production processes in one place, providing a suite of apps and platform tools for delivering high-volume, on-brand, personalized graphical output across multiple channels. Targets brands, agencies, retailers, and ISVs.
- Smart Templates The core technology of CHILI GraFx that enables streamlined and scaled graphical production. Smart Templates are graphical documents where parts of content (names, prices, photos, colors) can be modified while other elements remain locked for brand consistency. They intelligently shape-shift by dynamically altering formatting and can output variants for digital and print in multiple sizes.
- GraFx Studio Design authoring environment within CHILI GraFx enabling users to create and edit designs using Smart Templates. Includes the Multi-layouts API for preview generation and Components for reusable design elements.
- GraFx Environment API-based platform environment providing headless graphical production capabilities. Allows developers to build bespoke creative automation solutions and includes the GraFx Environment API for generating preview thumbnails for layouts.
- Connector Framework Integration framework within CHILI GraFx enabling connectivity with external systems including DAM, PIM, CRM, ERP, font managers, and style set managers through API-first approach and pre-built connectors.
- CHILI publisher Online SaaS editing solution for web2print service providers, providing online editing capabilities for marketing document templates in a browser environment.
- CHILI publisher Desktop and online editing solution providing an online editing engine for graphic documents. Includes better loading times, action editor overhaul with business rules, large file support, improved UI, custom fonts based on language preference, and PNG snapshot/thumbnail rendering.
Quantifiable outcome
- 35% of recurring orders automated (Colruyt Group)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use CHILI GraFx
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
CHILI GraFx technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
CHILI GraFx partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AcquiacoreAcquia DAM Connector enables seamless integration between Acquia's digital asset management platform and CHILI GraFx creative automation.
- SitecorecoreStrategic partnership to facilitate content scaling by integrating CHILI GraFx creative automation with Sitecore's digital experience platform.
- SS&CcoreSS&C serves as distributor for CHILI publish in the French market, providing local sales, support, and integration services to C!Print audience.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
CHILI GraFx competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- InMotionNow: Creative project management and marketing operations platform (inMotion) for enterprise creative teams. Adjacent in serving the same creative operations buyer with workflow and asset production capabilities.
- Brandworkz: Brand management and brand asset management platform focused on brand guidelines, asset libraries, and template-driven content production. Smaller, niche competitor overlapping in brand enablement for mid-market and enterprise.
Broad incumbents
- Canva: Broad incumbent with Canva Enterprise and Brand Hub targeting brand-locked template creation and multichannel asset production at global brands and agencies. Competes via ease-of-use and broad ecosystem rather than deep API-first architecture.
- Adobe: Broad incumbent offering Adobe Express, Firefly Services, and GenStudio for creative automation, generative AI design, and brand-locked asset production. Competes from a much larger portfolio and distribution base.
Direct peers
- Elateral: Direct competitor offering a creative automation platform for personalized, data-driven marketing collateral at enterprise scale. Targets the same brand, agency, and retailer buyers with similar Smart-Template-style variable-content production.
- Aprimo (Stibo Systems): Marketing resource management and creative operations platform offering brand asset management, workflow, and content production automation. Directly comparable to CHILI GraFx in serving enterprise marketing operations teams.
- Templafy: Enterprise document and template automation platform enabling on-brand document creation across Microsoft Office and other apps. Directly comparable in API-driven, brand-locked template automation for large enterprises.
- Quadient: Customer communications management vendor (formerly GMC Software / Quadient Inspire) providing template-driven, personalized document and direct mail automation. Closely comparable in variable data printing and direct mail use cases.
- Bynder: Enterprise digital asset management and brand asset management platform with workflow automation for creative operations. Overlaps with CHILI GraFx on brand asset centralization, template-driven production, and DAM integrations.
Regional players
- Esko: Packaging graphics and prepress workflow software vendor (Danaher subsidiary). Overlaps with CHILI GraFx on brand-controlled graphics production but specialized in the packaging graphics vertical rather than broad marketing.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
CHILI GraFx social profiles
Digital presenceCHILI GraFx compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
CHILI GraFx financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CHILI GraFx leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
CHILI GraFx funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CHILI GraFx 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 CHILI GraFx
What does CHILI GraFx do?
CHILI GraFx is a Creative Automation platform that enables brands, agencies, retailers, and ISVs to produce high-volume, on-brand, personalized graphical content across multiple channels from a single design source. Built on an API-first architecture with proprietary Smart Templates technology, it allows non-designers to self-serve on-brand assets while maintaining central brand control and supporting integration with DAM, PIM, CRM, and ERP systems.
Is CHILI GraFx a public or private company?
CHILI GraFx is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was CHILI GraFx founded?
CHILI GraFx was founded in 2011.
Where is CHILI GraFx based?
CHILI GraFx is headquartered in Aalst, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does CHILI GraFx make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription.
Who are CHILI GraFx's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are InMotionNow and Brandworkz. Broad incumbents are Canva and Adobe. Direct peers are Elateral, Aprimo (Stibo Systems), Templafy, Quadient and Bynder. Esko is listed as a regional player.
Does CHILI GraFx have an API?
Yes. CHILI GraFx follows an API-first approach to software development, designing and developing the API as a priority and making it available to customers and partners. The API enables seamless connectivity with systems like DAM, PIM, CRM, ERP, and others, enabling easy integration of data from different platforms in graphical production processes. The platform provides an API for headless graphical production, allowing developers to build bespoke creative automation solutions. The GraFx Environment API allows users to generate preview thumbnails for any layout before personalization. Developer documentation is at docs.chiligrafx.com.
What industry is CHILI GraFx in?
CHILI GraFx's product category is Creative Automation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAEAI, Brand Experience (BX) & Service Design.