The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Product decision · 2012–2013
Macaw raises $275,929 on Kickstarter for its design-to-code web tool
Two designers crowdfund a Mac app whose Alchemy engine turns visual design into production HTML/CSS, closing at $275,929 from 2,752 backers.
Macaw
What the business is
Macaw is a Mac web design tool (with a PC port planned) from a two-person team: designers draw fluid, percentage-based layouts with an image-editor feel, and the built-in Alchemy design-to-code engine exports semantic, reusable HTML and CSS instead of throwaway mockups.
Starting capital：$275,929 raised on Kickstarter between 2013-10-02 and 2013-11-01 against a $75,000 goal, from 2,752 backers.
How it started
Macaw's two founders had been building the app for well over a year when they launched the Kickstarter on October 2, 2013: two people tackling a very large problem, with much of the core already complete but the app still needing developer muscle to round out features, test thoroughly, and finish native OS X support before porting to PC.
What happened
The campaign ran October 2 – November 1, 2013 and closed at $275,929 from 2,752 backers — roughly $200,000 over the $75,000 goal. Funds were allocated to core development, native OS X support mechanisms, the PC port, user support forums and help content, and unrevealed version-1 features; a $200,000 stretch goal unlocked a broadcast mechanism to preview designs live across devices. Version 1 for Mac OS X was promised for January 2014, with limited early access at $99 and $129 reward tiers, and the PC build expected a couple of months later.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Macaw is a code-savvy web design tool from a two-person team: designers draw fluid, percentage-based layouts with the intuitive feel of an image editor, and the product's Alchemy engine turns the visual work into production HTML and CSS. The founders had been building it for more than a year before turning to Kickstarter in October 2013 to fund the development muscle needed to finish a complex native app.
The campaign, which ran October 2 – November 1, 2013, asked for $75,000 and closed at $275,929 pledged by 2,752 backers — about $200,000 over goal. Rewards were largely pre-orders of version 1, with individual licenses at $30, early access at $99 and $129, and studio, agency and education packs at $149 to $990.
The funds were earmarked for concrete finishing work: rounding out core features and testing, native OS X update and feedback mechanisms, a PC port, forums and help content, and unannounced version-1 features. A $200,000 stretch goal added live cross-device preview broadcasting with reload, and Mac OS X version 1 was promised for January 2014.
The product bet was that designers and developers want more than a mockup tool: Macaw's engine was built to learn as the user designs, applying the same logic a developer would — DRY styles edited in one place, reusable components, and exported code that respects semantics rather than absolute positioning.
What has to be true
- Two experienced designers could not fund or staff a complex native app alone, so Kickstarter supplied both capital and the first paying customers in one mechanism.
- The tool attacked a problem incumbents had abandoned — deriving usable code from a design tool — by making the engine learn from the designer's own workflow.
- Pre-selling version 1 turned 2,752 backers into a launch-day audience and a demand signal that no pitch deck could match.
- The $200,000-over-goal result showed the pain was real: developers and designers prepaid for a January 2014 delivery before seeing a finished product.
What can be applied
Kickstarter can be a niche tool's full go-to-market — funding, demand proof and a 2,700-customer launch list in one campaign — but only if the product ships what design-to-code tools never delivered.
Aftermath
As of 2013-11-01 Macaw's Kickstarter had closed at $275,929 from 2,752 backers, 368% of the $75,000 goal, with version 1 for Mac OS X promised for January 2014 and a PC version expected a few months later. The campaign page records no later milestones, so the case stops at the funding close.
Sources
- Macaw: The Code-Savvy Web Design Tool
- Webdesign tool Macaw raises $275k on Kickstarter, $200k more than original goal
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