Dozen: el venture capital online
Dozen is an online venture capital fund built around a digital platform that provides access to investments in disruptive companies for both novice and experienced investors who prefer to leave all management of these types of operations in the hands of a team of expert professionals.
Founded in 2011 as The Crowd Angel, the company was aware of its need to present itself as it truly is. After 8 years in operation, they noticed that all their expertise and maturity weren't being perceived from the outside the way they actually were. There were tangible issues, like problems transcribing the name, and intangible ones, like feelings, a sense that "something isn't quite right". As we always say: there were business maximization opportunities that weren't being seized.
Once the need was identified, our work began with a deep dive into the company's reality, interviewing the key stakeholders involved. After this process, we had enough insight to propose a name change, a new visual identity, a new website, and a complete redesign of their digital investment platform.
To all this we added an online brand activation platform (think Brand Center with extra power) and various Accompaniment initiatives to project the new brand both internally and externally. One of the most comprehensive and rewarding projects we've done at Soluble.
The perfect host
In this immersion process, we discovered the team's commitment to actively contribute to investment in innovative companies with proposals aimed at high societal impact. A group of experts who facilitate the entire process, from identifying opportunities to providing accompaniment once the operation is complete.
They are "the perfect hosts" of venture capital investment. They identify opportunities, prepare everything so guests can enjoy themselves, receive them and provide accompaniment, setting the tone in a close but rigorous way.
They're capable of building fruitful relationships between their guests, knowing how to connect those who can offer each other the most value and always staying nearby in case they need anything.
A group of 12
Hosts of a select but not exclusive event. We seek to highlight the expert work done by the team while balancing it with the requirements they set for investing (minimum ticket of €3,000, well above what's typical on this type of platform), with the understandable ambition to reach as many people as possible.
We ask ourselves a question: what's the minimum number that makes up a relevant group of people with the power to make decisions that change what's established? A question that led us to the number 12.
The number 12 is laden with symbolism, especially in Mediterranean culture—something inevitably identity-defining in this case. The twelve months of the year, the twelve hours of day and night, the twelve signs of the Zodiac, the twelve principal Greek gods, the twelve apostles, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve knights of the Round Table...
It's one of the two known sublime numbers. It's considered the quintessential solar number, a symbol of cosmic order and perfection. It speaks to us of harmony and purity. It represents a complete, balanced, perfect structure. Selective but not exclusive.
Perfection also in the visual
To build the identity elements we work with the number 12, as it couldn't be otherwise. Specifically with the dodecahedron, the Platonic solid, which has a particularity that gives rise to Dozen's logo, very much in line with the symbolism of the number.
This regular polyhedron formed by twelve perfectly identical regular pentagons harbors a curious secret within: three golden rectangles intersecting each other perpendicularly. Each of the twelve vertices of the resulting figure coincides with the centers of each of the dodecahedron's faces.
Dozen is who creates an environment where everything fits and thrives by building unity and caring for detail with meticulous attention.
The resulting figure works in both two and three dimensions. We explored how the logo is constructed as an object, and invited the entire team into the exercise. We saw how attachment to a logo that's built in three dimensions—that you can touch—skyrocketed.
Both the typefaces and the colors are born from that imaginary of select environments where hosts ensure everything goes perfectly before, during, and after. Where they also take care to bring together the most relevant people and build connections and bonds between guests.
The geometry inherent to this visual language, born from the logo's construction, also supports the development of the visual system, giving rise to grids, masks, and compositions that complete the brand's visual language.
The online presence
As a digital platform and online investment fund, two of the most critical touchpoints for the new brand are the website and the platform itself—the digital product. We helped Dozen communicate its value proposition and redefine its product based on everything they've learned over the years, updating the user experience to maximize alignment with the new brand.
New navigation, flows, structure, and usage patterns that come to life through a new design system born from the new visual identity and that imagery of the perfect host. In this case, we were also able to handle all frontend programming and backend updates to ready it for this new chapter. A privilege to participate in the project end-to-end.
Results
We'll be watching the new metrics from the product and website, but we're already seeing the early benefits of undertaking a process like this: team attachment and sense of belonging. Both during the immersion process, at the launch event, and now day-to-day through the brand activation platform.
Dozen has renewed drive and energy, full alignment, and the confidence that it can achieve the goals that once seemed like distant dreams. It has a brand that reflects its nature, its reality as a company and as a team.