By Adedapo Adesanya
Locofy has announced the launch of a new product, Locofy Lightning, which uses Large Design Models (LDMs) to provide a pioneering one-click technology that converts Figma designs into web frontend code.
Leveraging Locofy’s Large Design Models (LDMs) built in-house, Locofy Lightning will save developers up to 80 per cent of the time it takes to code the user interface from scratch.
The Singapore-headquartered firm, in a statement seen by Business Post, said AI-first automated code assistants like Locofy.ai offer a solution to this massive, fast-growing problem, by reducing development costs and time to market.
Developers and designers typically spend hundreds of hours turning web designs into production-grade code. A new app or feature can take weeks to design on popular design tools like Figma and AdobeXD, followed by months of frontend and backend development from scratch.
With Figma becoming the darling of the design world, Adobe moved in 2022 to acquire the company for $20 billion but the merger was mutually
abandoned last month. As a Figma plugin, Locofy.ai aims to convert Figma designs into code with one click and automate close to 80 per cent of the mundane time-consuming parts of frontend development, allowing developers to focus on the more complex business logic and bringing their ideas to market 2-3 times faster and cheaper.
With just one click, Locofy Lightning seamlessly translates Figma designs into plug-and-play code, revolutionizing the way development teams approach their work. At the heart of Locofy Lightning lies a technology stack built in-house, particularly the use of LDMs.
The company said the models are trained on a vast dataset comprising millions of designs, and they dissect visual elements, optimize layouts, and enhance code structure.
This is coming at a time when the world faces its toughest software developer shortage, prompting a global movement towards AI-coding assistants to tackle the increasing gap. The International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted a global shortfall of 4 million developers by 2025.
Speaking on this, the co-founder and chief executive of Locofy.ai, Mr Honey Mittal, said the investment of over $1 million in the development of Locofy Lightning underscores the firm’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of front-end development.
“This innovation has emerged out of a clear market need. AI is helping to lower the entry barrier to software development, and businesses around the world are looking for AI-driven, automated coding assistants that maintain stringent quality standards. Locofy Lightning is particularly advantageous for fast-moving startups and customer-focused enterprises, as it speeds up frontend development and empowers lean teams to deliver world-class outcomes.”
“Like many first saw the potential of Large Language Models with the advent of chatbots like ChatGPT, at Locofy we provide the complete solution for design-to-code by providing both the foundational Large Design Models and product to make them accessible, Locofy Lightning,” he added.
Locofy.ai made its entrance onto the tech scene in 2021 and has secured a
series of investments totalling $7.5M from industry luminaries such as the CTO and co-founders of Dropbox, Ola, and esteemed funds like Accel and Northstar Ventures.
