Knapsack picks up $10M to help bridge the gap between design and engineering teams

Bridging the divide between design and engineering teams is a persistent challenge in the digital product landscape. Many organizations struggle with disjointed information, often relying on shared spreadsheets to track essential design specifications and guidelines. Design teams frequently utilize tools like Figma, while engineers manage their code through systems such as Git. This issue becomes even more complex for larger organizations juggling multiple brands and websites, leading to miscommunication that can waste time and resources. Enter Knapsack, a collaboration platform tailored for enterprises aiming to clarify misunderstandings among UI designers, product managers, and engineers. By creating a cohesive workspace that integrates seamlessly with tools like Figma and Git, Knapsack ensures that any modifications in design are promptly reflected in the code and documentation. This integration helps maintain consistency in branding across all digital products. For instance, if a button is intended to be 60 pixels wide, this will be accurately recorded in the system, eliminating sizing errors. Recently, Knapsack announced a successful $10 million Series A funding round, bringing its total capital raised to $20.8 million. The company is also unveiling new AI capabilities, including an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, which is based on Anthropic’s open-source standard designed to improve AI models’ ability to provide relevant responses. Currently in limited beta, this feature allows teams to develop AI agents utilizing models like ChatGPT and Gemini while ensuring alignment with brand guidelines. Additionally, an upcoming “ingestion engine” promises to streamline the creation of a system of record, which is essentially a comprehensive data collection for companies. Traditionally, establishing such systems can take months, but Knapsack anticipates that their new engine will reduce this timeframe to just a few days, enabling teams to launch new projects with greater efficiency. CEO Chris Strahl highlighted the transformative impact of Knapsack on a major pharmaceutical client, which previously took about 15 months to launch a new drug property. With Knapsack, that timeline has been dramatically shortened to just two to three months. The introduction of the new engine is expected to expedite this process even further. Another upcoming feature, set to launch later this year, will assist teams in quickly exploring user interfaces (UIs) and generating ideas with guided prompts. Since its launch in 2022, Knapsack has reportedly served dozens of Fortune 1000 companies, although the names of these companies have not been disclosed. Strahl refrained from providing specific subscription pricing details, stating only that it is an enterprise product with corresponding pricing. Currently, Knapsack employs nearly 30 full-time staff members and plans to expand its team by hiring 14 more with the new funding. The recent funding round was spearheaded by Builders VC, with participation from Crosslink Capital, Epic Ventures, Mana Venture, and Lorimer Ventures, alongside previous investors such as Alumni, Ascend, Gradient Ventures, Parade Ventures, Founder Collective, Salesforce, and Slack Fund. Looking ahead, Strahl envisions Knapsack as a platform for diverse digital experiences, particularly as the potential of agentic AI continues to evolve. He imagines a future where consumers could interact with personal AI agents to find products tailored to their preferences. Strahl expressed his desire for Knapsack to lead the charge in shaping how organizations express their brand through intelligent apps and systems.