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kleeen raises $3.8m to make front-end design for business applications easy

AVATAR Frederic Lardinois
Frederic Lardinois
Editor
February 23, 2021
kleeen raises $3.8m to make front-end design for business applications easy

Streamlining Front-End Development for Business Applications

Developing a front-end for business applications frequently involves repetitive tasks, yet complete automation proves challenging due to the unique requirements of each enterprise. Kleeen represents a recent endeavor to address this issue, concentrating on the creation of user interfaces and experiences tailored for modern, data-driven applications.

Founded by a team with prior experience operating a UI/UX studio in the Bay Area, the service employs a guided, wizard-style interface. This approach automates the construction of standard application components, allowing designers and developers to dedicate their efforts to more specialized and customized features.

Recent Funding

The company has announced the successful completion of a $3.8 million seed funding round, spearheaded by First Ray Venture Partners. Additional participation came from Leslie Ventures, Silicon Valley Data Capital, WestWave Capital, Neotribe Ventures, AI Fund, and a collective of angel investors.

Neotribe previously led Kleeen’s $1.6 million pre-seed round, bringing the total investment secured by the company to $5.3 million.

Image Credits: Kleeen

Origins of Kleeen

Joshua Hailpern, Kleeen’s co-founder, CPO, and President, shared that following the acquisition of his previous company, he established a B2B design studio specializing in front-end design and engineering.

“A consistent pattern emerged during our work,” Hailpern explained. “Clients would present ambitious ideas, detailing innovative features. While we were eager to contribute, the actual work often diverged from these initial visions. Product development necessitates both a compelling showcase and essential supporting elements – features that don’t directly influence deal closures but are nonetheless crucial.”

How Kleeen Works

The core concept behind Kleeen is enabling users to define their objectives and the functionalities required by their users. While variations exist in specific company needs, the fundamental building blocks remain relatively consistent.

Kleeen then generates the corresponding user interface and workflow, complete with sample data to visualize the mock-up. This allows for rapid prototyping and iteration.

Image Credits: Kleeen

Upon completion and refinement, Kleeen produces React code that development teams can integrate directly into their projects.

Focused Approach

Matt Fox, Kleeen’s co-founder and CEO, emphasized the platform’s deliberate focus.

“In the no-code landscape, claiming the ability to build any application often implies a compromise in quality across all use cases. We are not positioned for applications like a dating app with swipe functionality. Our strength lies in handling data-intensive workflows.”

He further clarified that Kleeen excels in building applications that facilitate data analysis, monitoring, and, importantly, the execution of actions based on that information within the application itself. This capability distinguishes Kleeen from conventional business intelligence platforms.

  • Key Focus: Data-intensive workflows
  • Output: React code for integration
  • Benefit: Frees developers for custom features
#front-end design#business applications#funding#startup#kleeen#UI

Frederic Lardinois

Frederic's Extensive Tech Journalism Career

From 2012 to 2025, Frederic contributed significantly to TechCrunch as a journalist.

Beyond his tenure at TechCrunch, he demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit by establishing SiliconFilter.

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Frederic’s writing portfolio also includes contributions to ReadWriteWeb, which is now known as ReadWrite.

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Frederic also provides coverage of developer tools, alongside insights into the strategies of major players like Google and Microsoft.

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His journalistic approach is characterized by a wide-ranging curiosity and a commitment to informing readers about emerging trends.

Frederic Lardinois