EXCLUSIVE: Minted’s Founder Launches Product Creation Platform Arcade’s New AI Design Assistant

The world’s first artificial intelligence physical product creation platform and marketplace, Arcade, has launched its AI agent, Maia — ahead of the 2025 holiday shopping season.

Arcade was founded by Mariam Naficy, founder and ex-chief executive officer of digital design marketplace, Minted.

The San Francisco-based company is looking to empower everyone to create, shop and shape the physical world through Maia, a personal design assistant that designs custom jewelry, home decor and gifts by luxury brands and artisans — all vetted by Arcade.

Naficy told WWD that Arcade is the first and only platform merging AI and the physical world. “Our AI doesn’t stop at your screen; it instantly designs manufacturable, priced products, connected to a vetted network of master artisans and heritage brands to bring them to life. We make this technology available not only to consumers, but to the entire ecosystem of sellers, designers and manufacturers as well.”

Maia chats with consumers to find what they’re looking for, asks questions to understand aesthetic preferences and instantly generates custom designs that are ready for purchase and shipment.

Arcade is also debuting its curated storefronts from its creative community, including fashion journalist Lynn Yaeger, chef Flynn McGarry, comedian Dan Rosen, creative director Gabriella Khalil, fashion designer Estelle Bailey-Babenzien, interior designers Brigette Romanek and Kathy Kuo, editor Kate Berry, Karlie Kloss for Kode and Christy Turlington Burns for Every Mother Counts. These curated storefronts are a starting point for users to make their own, by adjusting for color, sizing and style to fit the needs of the individual.

Notably, Arcade has partnered with French silverware brand Christofle, Italian ceramic house Bitossi, luxury home decor brand Cabana, stoneware maker Anastasio Home and jewelry brands L&Co to ensure high standards of quality and craftsmanship. Arcade said that each product ordered through the platform is made-to-order and vetted by manufacturers to create a “sustainable model that eliminates overproduction” while preserving traditional craftsmanship techniques.

Ahead of the holiday shopping and gifting season, Arcade is looking to help solve the age-old problem of finding a truly personal gift — “Holiday shopping has always forced a painful compromise: mass-market gifts that feel impersonal or custom pieces that take months and cost thousands. Arcade eliminates that trade-off entirely. In the time it takes to have a conversation, you can design custom jewelry or home decor that’s exactly what you envisioned — then purchase it and have it shipped in time for the holidays,” said Naficy.

Arcade has thus far raised $42 million from investors such as Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures — with angel investors including Karlie Kloss, Colin Kaepernick and Christy Turlington Burns.