Congratulations on being a part of the Momentum 10, the elite top 10 startups who demonstrated truly exceptional drive and progress in the year 2024. The Momentum 10 Interview Series will delve into the unique journeys and powerful foundations propelling your startups to the top in the 2024 Startups of The Year campaign!
Tell us about you.
Hi! We’re Toffu, global digital content platform tailored for architects and designers. Our mission is to modernize design representation and make high-quality, copyright-safe visual assets accessible to creatives everywhere. We believe beautiful ideas deserve beautiful visuals.
Tell us how your startup is changing the world.
Toffu empowers designers to work faster and smarter by providing a library of ready-to-use 2D/3D assets. With every download, we reduce creative friction, save hours of manual work, and help designers focus on what they do best: creating.
What sets you apart from the competition?
We’re built by designers, for designers. Our content is not just aesthetic; it’s project-ready, ethical, and tailored to industry needs. Add to that our growing AI capabilities, and we’re not just a marketplace; we’re becoming a creative assistant.
What does it mean for you to be in the Momentum 10?
It’s a huge honor! Being recognized among such ambitious innovators is both validating and energizing. It’s a reminder that we’re on the right track and that we have a responsibility to keep pushing the industry forward.
What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to set out for this mission?
Our team is small but mighty; architects, designers, developers, and creatives from all over the world. We’ve built a culture around curiosity and trust, which lets us experiment freely and move fast.
Looking back, what milestone was the biggest turning point for your startup?
Reaching 1.5 million downloads was huge, and it showed us that people really needed what we were building. That moment pushed us to grow faster, take bolder steps, and begin expanding into AI-powered tools.
What’s one valuable lesson you learned this year that you’d pass on to other startups?
Don’t wait for things to be perfect. It might sound a bit cliche, but whatever you’re building, release it early, listen deeply, and iterate fast. 2024 reminded us that resilience is about adaptability, not control.
How do you envision your industry evolving in the coming years, and how will your startup stay ahead?
Architecture and design will become even more collaborative, real-time, and AI-assisted. We’re preparing by building tools that merge asset creation, curation, and editing on a single intuitive platform.
How do you or your company intend to bring forward the Momentum 10 inspirations in 2025?
We’ll use this spotlight to open new partnerships, support emerging creatives, and build more transparent, accessible AI tools for designers everywhere.
What goals are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2025?
We’re launching our AI-powered graphics editor, aiming to close our first funding round, and expanding our reach in Europe and the U.S. It’s a big year ahead!
2024 has been crazy, with all the new techs, and all the geopolitics fluctuations. What are the impacts of these to your startup, and to your industry as a whole? Be as brief or as detailed as you like.
The economic turbulence hit creatives hard, but it also accelerated the need for efficiency. That’s where we came in. We doubled down on value, automation, and ethical AI, and it resonated.
We would love your feedback on HackerNoon as a tech publication! How has your experience been with us?
HackerNoon has always felt like a smart, slightly nerdy friend who keeps it real. We love the platform’s tone and its openness to global voices, and it makes tech feel human again.
Any words of wisdom you’d like to share with us?
Build with purpose, not hype. Trust your team. Build for the community, not investors. And if you’re bootstrapping, remember: constraint breeds creativity.
About HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year
Startups of The Year 2024 is HackerNoon’s flagship community-driven event celebrating startups, technology, and the spirit of innovation. Currently in its third iteration, the prestigious Internet award recognizes and celebrates tech startups of all shapes and sizes. This year, over 150,000 entities across 4200+ cities, 6 continents, and 100+ industries will participate in a bid to be crowned the best startup of the year! Millions of votes have been cast over the past few years, and many stories have been written about these daring and rising startups.
The winners will get a free interview on HackerNoon and an Evergreen Tech Company Newspage.
Visit our FAQ page to learn more.
Download our design assets here.
Check out the Startups of the Year Merch Shop here.
HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year is a branding opportunity unlike any other. Whether your goal is brand awareness or lead generation, HackerNoon has curated startup-friendly packages to solve your marketing challenges.
Meet our sponsors:
Wellfound:. Join the #1 global, startup-focused community. At Wellfound, we're not just a job board—we're the place where top startup talent and the world's most exciting companies connect to build the future.
Notion: Notion is trusted and loved by thousands of startups as their connected workspace—from building product roadmaps to tracking fundraising. Try Notion with unlimited AI, FREE for up to 6 months, to build and scale your company with one powerful tool. Get your offer now!
Hubspot: If you’re looking for a smart CRM platform that meets the needs of small businesses, look no further than HubSpot. Seamlessly connect your data, teams and customers in one easy-to-use scalable platform that grows with your business. Get started for free.
Bright Data: Startups that leverage public web data can make faster, data-driven decisions, giving them a competitive edge. With Bright Data’s scalable web data collection, businesses can grow from a small operation to an enterprise by harnessing insights at every stage.
Algolia: Algolia NeuralSearch is the world's only AI end-to-end Search and Discovery Platform combining powerful keyword and natural language processing in a single API.