Toronto venture capital firm Georgian Partners needed to update their brand and came to Jacknife—for a second time.
They had experienced significant growth and evolution of the business, building a data-driven platform to help solve critical challenges CEOs face as they scale their businesses—providing more value to their portfolio and disrupting the traditional VC space. The time was right to mark these changes.
We were first introduced to the team years before with a quest to better introduce their brand to promising growth-stage prospects by speaking their language and catering to their online habits.
The perception of the firm as being dynamic, well-connected, and innovative hadn’t changed while having grown significantly since the initial rebrand and continuing to partner with leading growth-stage technology companies.
A series of stakeholder interviews and category audits confirmed that Georgian was not a typical VC. Founded by former software entrepreneurs, they uniquely understood their audience and could relate to them in ways other VCs couldn’t—because they were them. They operated how the companies they partnered with did, with their processes, culture, and organizational structure mirroring leading software companies. It was time they looked and sounded like them, too.
A subtle yet impactful name change from ‘Georgian Partners’ to ‘Georgian’ set the tone for the firm to transition into positioning as a fintech in the VC category. When it came to representing the new positioning visually, we steered clear of anything too corporate or investment-like and took a more accessible and forward-thinking approach.
Organic shapes are derived from a fundamental ‘G’ monogram creating a modular system built to evolve as Georgian does. We designed a completely new website, including a custom set of icons to represent different features and be applied to ongoing collateral. Ultimately, this project pushed Georgians to overhaul their thinking and plans for the future, resulting in a brand that stands out from the crowd and continues to attract the best companies.
