Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Startapp

  • Storyblok raises $8.5 million Series A to fund international expansion

    Storyblok raises $8.5 million Series A to fund international expansion

    Storyblok has raised an $8.5 million Series A. The investment was led by Mubadala Capital, which counts TIER Mobility and Cazoo among its portfolio, and existing Storyblok investors firstminute capital and 3VC.

    Storyblok intends to use the funding to expand its platform by introducing new features including a new custom design system for third parties, agency partner listing, geo location filtering and typed GraphQL support.

    It also intends to grow its international team and begin its global expansion with sales offices set to open in Germany and the Republic of Ireland in the coming months.

    The Austria-founded company’s platform is the world’s first headless CMS built for both developers and business users.

    Its clients include large enterprises such as Pizza Hut, Adidas, UPC, Greggs, Decathlon and tens of thousands of solo developers.

    It is currently powering more than 60,000 projects across 130 countries and recorded a six-fold increase in enterprise client growth in 2020.

  • Fast delivery tech start-up BeeFast has grown from 16 to 580 deliveries per day in 2020

    Fast delivery tech start-up BeeFast has grown from 16 to 580 deliveries per day in 2020

    BeeFast, a local super fast delivery tech start-up, has grown from 16 deliveries per day in early 2020 to a maximum of 580 deliveries per day by the end of the year.

    65% of the turnover was generated by the customers that BeeFast moved for free from offline to online, during the pandemic.

    BeeFast started 2020 as a fast B2B and B2C delivery solution, but the new socio-economic context generated by the onset of the pandemic accelerated the development of the project of the 4 founding entrepreneurs to provide a digital infrastructure with integrated payment system and order delivery for offline stores.

    Thus, during 9 months of 2020, BeeFast has moved online over 100 businesses, in areas such as HoReCa, cosmetics, flowers or clothing.

    The general trend towards eCommerce has led to an accelerated increase in the number of daily orders, which increased from an average of 16 deliveries / day in January 2020 to an average of 211 deliveries / day in the middle of the year, respectively 338 deliveries / day at the end of the year.

    Thus, in 2020, the over 1,200 suppliers registered on the BeeFast platform honoured over 66,500 orders, which generated business of 320,000 euros, 3 times higher than the estimates at the beginning of the year.

    Average delivery time in 2020: 55 minutes

    Among the differentiating factors and growth engines, in addition to the integrated services offered, were the ease of use of the application – where it is not necessary to print an AWB, as in the case of classic courier services – but also the speed of picking up and delivering the order in 2 hours from lifting.

    Through the digital platform with geolocation, couriers are distributed according to proximity, when the order is confirmed, without the need for additional action by the person who placed the order.

    The most dynamic delivery areas were, in 2020, sectors 1, 2 and 3, and the busiest month in terms of orders was November, against the background of Black Friday and the approach of December.

    The most unusual locations where products were picked up or delivered were Otopeni Airport, Baneasa Airport, Parliament Palace, Government.

    The most active businesses are restaurants, cafes, florists, but also grocery stores, food and beverage stores, toy stores, pharmacies, clothing and footwear stores.

    In the top the most delivered products in Bucharest and Ilfov are: horeca products – fish, burgers, sushi, pizza – but also flowers, books, jewelry and gifts among colleagues.

    For 2021, BeeFast aims to expand nationally, targeting 9 new cities, Iași, Constanța, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Pitești, Brașov, Timișoara, Galați.

  • Romanian startup Oveit to open a SAFE financing round on SeedBlink

    Romanian startup Oveit to open a SAFE financing round on SeedBlink

    Oveit, the company that brought Live Stream Shopping to Romania, through its own technological solution Streams.live, opens a round of SAFE financing on SeedBlink, the equity crowdfunding platform.

    The company aims to attract 400,000 euros from private investors interested in technology, but also from individuals who seek to invest their capital.

    The current SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) investment, which the company aims to attract, has a 32% discount and represents an opportunity for individual investors who can participate with vouchers with a minimum value of 2,500 euros.

    The SeedBlink campaign starts on January 21st  and lasts 30 days.

    The company aims to expand its operations in the United States, where it has already been operating for 3 years, in Austin.

    Oveit’s plans for the next 5 years are for Streams.live, the solution that brings the experience of offline shopping in the digital environment.

    The Live Stream Shopping market has a huge potential and is projected to reach $ 1 billion in 2019 to $ 320 billion in 2023 in the United States alone, and $ 474 billion in China.

    Following its launch in October, major brands such as Renault Group, L’Oreal, Vodafone and Medlife have already begun adopting Streams.live technology, developed by Oveit.

  • 700,000 users across the world joined Polish platform LESS

    700,000 users across the world joined Polish platform LESS

    700,000 users across the world have joined LESS, an internet platform for selling second-hand clothes and accessories that operates from Poland.

    The platform provides access to thousands of virtual wardrobes owned, among others, by celebrities, influencers, athletes and singers.

    One of LESS’s account holders is Robert Lewandowski, who is also an investor in the company that is the platform’s operator. 

    The app was launched in June 2019 and six months later it obtained EUR 4 million in the seed round.

    LESS is preparing for the next round of financing which will be allocated to expand into markets of Eastern and Southern Europe.

  • Austrian digital platform enables fans to chat live with their favorite stars

    Austrian digital platform enables fans to chat live with their favorite stars

    Meet your Star is the world’s first digital platform that enables fans to chat live with their favorite stars and talents via one-on-one video connections.

    The platform creates a split-screen video recording of each conversation between a user and star, which the user can share on social media once the star releases the video. 

    Hollywood attorney Patrick Knapp-Schwarzenegger, whose clients include Nicolas Cage, Jason Statham and Jackie Chan as well as his uncle Arnold Schwarzenegger, joined Meet your Star as partner and investor.

    Meet your Star launched with a focus on German-speaking stars in Europe, a 100-million-person market. The US rollout is set to begin early next year.

    A veteran in the entertainment industry, Meet your Star’s founder Georg Kindel’s previous projects include a decade-long partnership with former world leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mikhail Gorbachev.

    Each video chat supports a charitable organization

    Part of the proceeds generated by each video chat and video shoutout will be donated to a charitable organization chosen by the star.

    The star also decides which percentage of their fee they wish to donate (minimum 10%). 

  • Connections launched Tudor, the virtual accounting robot

    Connections launched Tudor, the virtual accounting robot

    Romanian startup Connections has launched Tudor application, the virtual accounting robot, developed using UiPath technology.

    Tudor Contabot was designed to perform the tasks of a junior accountant.

    Specifically, it processes timesheets, generates payroll statements and sends them by email, generates POs for income taxes, generates 112 statements, submits/signs/receives receipts for tax returns, imports invoices issued by the accounting firm in the account of customer companies, enters invoices based on previous pieces of information in Excel, prints the monthly documents, generates reports at the end of the month.

    Tudor, the virtual accounting robot, is GDPR compliant and operates on a subscription basis.

    The contabot was developed in six months by the Connections RPA team, and the investment has already exceeded 70.000 euros.

    Tudor is compatible with accounting programs such as SAGA, CIEL, NAVISION or CHARISMA, and can be adapted to the needs of the companies that want to use it.

  • Italian startup Vikey raised €800K new investment round

    Italian startup Vikey raised €800K new investment round

    Vikey has closed €800K in a new investment round with the participation of CDP Venture Capital Sgr – Fondo Nazionale Innovazione – through the AccelerOra! Program – Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), LVenture Group, and other business angels.

    With this new capital increase, the startup’s total funding rises to €1.6 million.

    Using Vikey’s contactless technology, hosts can accept all reservations (even last minute), increasing the occupancy rate, while saving time and costs, if compared to traditional check-in procedure.

    Vikey has developed a hardware and software solution for hotels and apartments intended for hospitality use, to open the accommodation’s door directly via smartphone.

    Their system manages all aspects of check-in and check-out, including sending documents and paying for upselling services.

    Vikey has recently signed national and international partnerships with major players in the hotel and alternative hospitality sectors, such as Altido (owner of 1,800 real estate properties, which is now affiliated with Vikey in 25 European cities).

  • VoxiKids aims to attract 290,000 euros on SeeBlink

    VoxiKids aims to attract 290,000 euros on SeeBlink

    VoxiKids, a platform for parents and speech therapists that aims to accelerate the recovery of children with speech and pronunciation deficiencies, is listed on SeedBlink, the largest equity crowdfunding platform in Southeastern Europe, in a round of funding of 290.000 euros for which the company transfers 10.39% of the capital.

    The listing will be on Tuesday, November 3, at 10.00 AM.

    The amount targeted by equity crowdfunding is 175.000 euros. The round is also financed by private investors along with GapMinder VC – that continue to support the project, and Cleverage VC.

    The two funds and the private investors finance VoxiKids with 115,000 euros. The company’s pre-money valuation is 2.5 million euros.

    34 million children in need of speech therapy

    VoxiKids was launched in March 2019  by AnaMaria Onică (36 years old), Cristian Băiță (38 years old), and Adrian Enache (31 years old).

    It was launched as a mobile MVP (minimum viable product) – for iOS and Android- and currently has over 10,000 downloads.

    During the last months, entrepreneurs were focused to develop a SaaS platform that connects parents with speech therapists and makes possible online speech therapy.

    The beta version of the platform will be launched until December 2020, right now is being tested in 25 speech therapyoffices. Also, at the beginning of 2021, the final version of the mobile application will be launched.

    The app will also incorporate an artificial intelligence module (voice processing) that is created in partnership with Politehnica University of Bucharest.

    Entrepreneurs aim for the product to be used in over 1.000 speech therapyoffices in the next 12 months and to impact the lifes of nearly 17.000 children in Romania.

    Thus, next year the company could reach a turnover of 720.000 euros on the Romanian market.

    The final version of the SaaS platform will contain 20 modules that offer: online therapy, specialized content (exercises, homework), administrative instruments (document management), communication tools (relevant notes), patient management tools (monitoring progress, adjusting therapy, evaluations).

    The team is also working on creating content for children with disabilities such as Autism, Down Syndrome.

  • MOCAPP seeks a 200.000 EUR investment through on SeedBlink

    MOCAPP seeks a 200.000 EUR investment through on SeedBlink

    MOCAPP, a Romanian tech startup that facilitates the development of marketing campaigns with the help of influencers (Influencer Marketing) wants to invest 200.000 euros in accelerating business development.

    The investment will be financed through an active equity crowdfunding campaign starting on October 27 on SeedBlink.

    The amount will be used for developing the new tools for platform users, over 800 in the first year, increasing the level of interaction and presence in the region.

    The platform can be used by any brand, local or multinational company, which wants to bring its products close to customers with the help of influencers.

    MOCAPP provides clients with the research, automation of contracts and payments, reporting, statistics and performance analysis, and from 2020 also provides audited audiences of influencers, through the partnership with HypeAuditor.

    Market size: over 50% annual growth

    Globally, the Influencer Marketing market has a volume of over $ 8 billion, according to figures available in Europe and the United States, and an accelerated growth rate, doubling its value every two years.

    The Central and Eastern European market will be worth hundreds of millions of euros a year in 2024, with sustained growth each year.

    2021 goals: 400.000 euros run through the platform

    The goals of the MOCAPP founders are that by the end of 2021, the platform will reach over 2.000 influencers in the region and over 1.000 collaborations between brands and content creators.

    It is also estimated that the total budgets through the platform will increase from 180.000 euros this year to about 400.000 euros in 2021.

  • Apiary Book aims for 150.000 euros through equity crowdfunding

    Apiary Book aims for 150.000 euros through equity crowdfunding

    Apiary Book, a Romanian beekeeping management application globally, wants to get 150.000 euros through equity crowdfunding on SeedBlink.

    The total round of financing is 200.000 euros and is led by the GapMinder investment fund.

    Apiary Book is an application for managing the activities in an apiary, monitoring the hives, analyzing the data of bee families and environmental factors that may affect their health.

    The application was launched as a personal project in 2015 by Bogdan Iordache (43 years old), an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the IT field. The company was registered as a business in 2018.

    At the end of the same year, Ionuț Țăranu (45 years old), a specialist with over two decades of experience in IT, joined the company.

    Currently Apiary Book is the most successful application for beekeepers worldwide, with 22.000 active users each month. The platform is available on Google Play and has versions in 18 languages. So far it has been downloaded over 160.000 times.

    Evaluation of 1.25 million euros

    For the amount of 150.000 euros targeted through equity crowdfunding on SeedBlink, the co-founders of Apiary Book sell a package of 10.34% of the shares, the company’s valuation being thus 1.25 million euros pre-money.

    In this financing round, the GapMinder Venture Capital fund also joined with an investment of 50.000 euros.

    This is the second time that GapMinder is investing in the Apiary Book. In 2018 GaoMinder invested 25.000 euros (pre-seed investment) in Apiary Book.

    In 2018, Apiary Book won the award for the best agritech start-up in Romania at the StartupEurope Awards competition.

  • Ÿnsect extended their Series C funding to $372 million

    Ÿnsect extended their Series C funding to $372 million

    Insect farming startup Ÿnsect announced today that they have extended their Series C funding to $372 million – the largest amount ever raised by a non-American ”agtech” business.

    The new capital will fund completion of the largest insect farm in the world, due to open in the city of Amiens, France in early 2022.

    Ÿnsect will produce 100.000 tons of insect products annually, as well as create 500 direct and indirect jobs. It will also let the company expand beyond Europe and Asia into the United States, with the support of its first U.S.-based investors, Upfront Ventures and FootPrint Coalition; and grow its markets into the supply of wet pet food.

    Ÿnsect has created a patented process for cultivating mealworm to produce a variety of highly digestible protein and fertilizer products.

    These products sustainably replace animal proteins consumed in the supply chain by fish & livestock farms, animal proteins used in pet food and fertilizers used in plant nutrition, while leading to greater yields and health benefits for the animals and plants being fed.

    By cultivating mealworms in a vertical farm, Ÿnsect uses 98% less land while significantly reducing the carbon & biodiversity footprints of protein production.

  • Wirex reaches target for first crowdfund in one and a half hours

    Wirex reaches target for first crowdfund in one and a half hours

    After opening a private allocation for their crowdfunding campaign, Wirex has reached their target of raising £1 million in less than 1 and a half hours.

    With over £1.6 million already raised, Wirex has been pushed into overfunding, and will remain open.

    Pavel Matveev, CEO and co-founder of Wirex, shared his excitement at the overwhelming success of the campaign: ”It’s a great milestone in achieving our original plan to raise £1 million so quickly”.

    Wirex reached £315 million gross revenue in the last 12 months and has over 3.1 million customers across 130 countries.