When AI makes it easy to create content quickly, it becomes all the more difficult to ensure consistency and adherence to brand guidelines. Octopus, a Sundsvall-based company, is building a platform that connects the customer’s systems and automatically formats the data according to the correct visual identity. This way, content creation can be reduced from hours to seconds.
For real estate companies, e-commerce businesses, and real estate agents, everyday life often looks the same: the same image and the same product over and over again, albeit in new formats. A banner here, a store header there. It takes time away from everything else, and as soon as someone takes over production themselves, fonts and templates start to drift apart.
“If you’ve invested anywhere between 150,000 and one million in your brand, it feels like a huge waste to start compromising it just because you’re creating the content yourself,” says Henrik Nygren, CEO and co-founder of Octopus.
Octopus connects the customer’s own systems—such as property data, e-commerce, or recruitment—and retrieves content such as images, text, prices, and addresses. This content is then populated into strictly controlled templates that always adhere to the brand’s guidelines, whether the output is video, a still image, a PDF, or an ad. By changing an address or a product, the customer immediately receives entirely new content.
Eventually, an AI system will analyze data points such as sales, inventory, and engagement to suggest what to create. But Henrik Nygren is clear about where the line is drawn.
– AI should eliminate the tedious, repetitive tasks—not the creative process itself. We don’t want to relinquish control; rather, we want to empower companies to do it themselves while ensuring that the results align with their brand.
From agency work to my own company
The idea originated from a branding project for a real estate agency that wanted to bring its brand to life across its own channels. Henrik Nygren, with a background in advertising and as a design director, worked with a colleague to build a beta version that worked right away. When the client was acquired, the solution remained in place. The need was clear, so they repackaged it as a standalone product.
Through BizMaker’sBusiness Incubatorprogram, the company primarily gained an external sounding board and assistance in navigating the search for capital.
“With a private advisor, everything happens so fast—you barely have time to process what you’re supposed to do. In the incubator, I was able to dive deep into the details and understand why certain things need to be done. It really feels like you’re part of a team,” says Henrik Nygren.
The biggest turning point came early on. Five days before the company was set to close its first funding round, the lead investor pulled out.
“That’s when I completely lost my momentum and started questioning everything. But the following week, I still went to a Venture Match event in Umeå through BizMaker, and got such an incredible amount of feedback from various investors that I came to terms with the whole situation and really grew as a person,” says Henrik Nygren.
From Our First Customers to the Next Market
Today, Octopus has a product on the market that quickly reached its initial revenue target of 200,000 kronor in annual recurring revenue, just months after launch. Its paying customers are primarily in the real estate and brokerage sectors, and the fact that the publicly traded company NP3 Fastigheter became a customer provided clear validation.
When one of our clients’ employees—who had no prior experience—began managing social media, it also served as proof that the solution works.
“She said, ‘It’s fun to create now, because I feel confident that what I’m doing represents who we are,’” says Henrik Nygren.
The next step is to close a funding round of 3 million kronor, half of which has already been subscribed to by strategic investors. At the same time, the company is rolling out its go-to-market strategy within Shopify’s global ecosystem, while the real estate market continues to be a parallel track.
Contact
Henrik Nygren, CEO and co-founder,
, 070 298 51 06,henrik@theoctopus.se
