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Kuru: brand & product for a funded crypto exchange before launch
Jon Li
Kuru
Kuru Exchange
Overview
Brand and product design for a funded crypto product before launch
Kuru, the first central limit order book on Monad, came to us as a protocol on testnet. The technology worked, but there was no brand and nothing user-facing. That's a problem in DeFi. People decide whether to connect a wallet in seconds, and a new exchange has no history to point at. Launch was one month out.
Duration: 11 months.
Category: DeFi.
Scope: Branding, UX/UI, Website.
Kuru
Kuru
The Call
What a funded crypto product has to look like before launch
Ready enough that a stranger will connect a wallet, with no brand history and a hard date on the calendar.
Kuru combined DEX features in a way nobody had shipped before.
New mechanics plus a new interface means learning two things at once, while deciding whether to put money into a protocol with no track record, on a chain with no track record. Unfamiliar reads as risky when funds are involved.
The interface uses conventions people already know. Familiar patterns, familiar placement, nothing that makes a user work out where they are.
That was the rabbit hole in Fravashi's quote. The early pull was towards an interface as new as the mechanics. We argued for the mental models traders already had.
The cost is that the product doesn't look new. Screenshots don't sell the novelty. Usage does.
Kuru
Kuru
Approach
Built the identity in a month, with enough structure for Kuru's team to extend it after launch
Mapped the information architecture first, so the product had a structure to sit in and room to scale to more features
Designed swap, positions and vault strategy as screens a trader could use on day one
Stayed on after launch, iterating on what real usage showed
Kuru
Kuru
"From concept to launch in 1 month, Jon and Mat's work on our brand kit and DEX design was exceptional. We announced our raise on it four weeks after kickoff and everyone loved the branding. The UI carried us through testnet and every user we interviewed liked it. Talented, responsive, and they pushed back when we were going down a rabbit hole."
Fravashi, Co-Founder, Kuru, backed by Paradigm and Electric Capital
Kuru
Outcomes
Kuru went from a testnet protocol with no brand to a launch-ready product in one month. Four weeks after kickoff, Kuru announced its raise on it. Kuru has since raised $11.6M from Paradigm, Electric Capital and Credibly Neutral. The raise is Kuru's result.
Mainnet went live on 24 November 2025, five months in. Over the next six months the structure carried $2B in spot volume, before any incentive programme ran.
Kuru's team has evolved the visuals since. The information architecture and product structure we set are still what the exchange runs on.
Like this project
Posted Aug 22, 2024
No brand, one month to launch. Brand, DEX and site shipped on time. Kuru has raised $11.6M from Paradigm, Electric Capital and Credibly Neutral.
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Kuru
