Anima, the innovator in converting design prototypes into functional code, has announced the release of Anima 4.0. This new version empowers designers to generate prototypes within Figma that are instantly transformed into React components with a single click.

The company was established by Or Arbel (a cofounder of Yo!), Avishay Cohen (formerly R&D lead at Mobli), and Michal Cohen. Launched three years ago, Anima initially provided a platform for designers using Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD to convert their designs into HTML code. The latest release expands this capability, enabling designs to be rendered as React components, allowing developers to refine and customize these components using their preferred coding language.

The market for enterprise design tools has experienced significant expansion in recent years. Unlike the past, when designers primarily relied on Photoshop and developers were tasked with converting static images into code, the design environment of 2020 is now highly competitive.

Platforms such as Sketch, InVision, and Figma have sought to bridge the communication gap between designers and developers, and also among designers themselves. Adobe has also responded to increasing competition with the introduction of Adobe XD.

Anima 4.0 signifies a further evolution in this landscape. The company is capitalizing on the growth of enterprise design tools while also establishing a presence in the rapidly expanding no-code development sector.

Arbel shared with TechCrunch that, following the closure of Yo, he envisioned his next project as one that would generate revenue from its inception. He also noted that he and his cofounders had long been frustrated by the disconnect often experienced between design and development teams.

This led to the creation of Anima. Currently, Anima is available for $40 per month, or approximately $370 per year. Arbel confirmed to TechCrunch that the pricing structure will remain unchanged with the launch of Anima 4.0, although future adjustments are possible. Initially, Anima aimed to eliminate the need for developers by enabling designers to independently build and translate their designs into functional HTML code.

With this new release, Anima intends to re-engage developers, offering them a solution in their native language, React. This approach potentially allows for premium pricing models or the introduction of additional revenue opportunities.

Arbel stated that Anima achieved profitability before securing its initial funding, a $120,000 investment from Y Combinator in the summer of 2018. This year, the company secured $2.5 million in seed funding, led by Hetz Ventures, Zohar Gilon, and Ed Lando.

Currently, Anima is utilized by 300,000 designers, developers, and product managers from prominent companies including Google, Amazon, Starbucks, and Walmart. The Anima community converts over 4,000 designs into code each week.

The Anima team has expanded from an initial four members at the start of the pandemic to a current team of 17, with a gender distribution of 70% men and 30% women.

“The biggest hurdle is producing code that is developer-friendly,” Arbel explained. “Developers represent a discerning audience—and I say that as a developer myself. The concept of code generation has been around since the early days of the internet, and numerous products have attempted it, but none have consistently delivered code that is easily understood and maintained. They often generate large, complex codebases. Now, the technology exists to genuinely achieve this.”

Editor’s Note: A previous iteration of this article incorrectly stated that Anima 4.0 is compatible solely with Figma. This has been corrected for accuracy.