Patrick Llewellyn joined 99designs, the world's largest graphic design marketplace, in 2009 after a decade advising Australian technology and media companies at NexTec Strategic Capital. In 2010 he moved to San Francisco to open a U.S. office and oversee U.S. and international expansion. Shortly after being appointed CEO in January 2011, Llewellyn guided 99designs to a $35 million first-round capital investment led by Accel Partners (Facebook, Dropbox, Etsy). Since then, 99designs has established European headquarters in Berlin; introduced localized-language sites in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Latin America; and has grown from a handful of staff to 100 in San Francisco, Melbourne, Berlin, Paris, London and Rio de Janeiro. In July 2013, Llewellyn oversaw the launch of Swiftly, a new site and service for quick graphic design projects. To date, 99designs has hosted more than 245,000 graphic design contests and paid out more than $60 million to its community of 250,000 designers around the world.
