• Grape

  Participated · Convertible Note · Jan 2015

  ChatGrape builds an "intelligent" team and enterprise messaging app that uses AI and natural-language processing to detect dates, questions, assignments and to-dos and trigger workflows. The product emphasizes deep indexing and an Index API to integrate and exchange data between cloud services and chat, with an Index API release planned for March. The company plans to grow its Vienna-based engineering team with hires focused on mobile, AI and language-processing experts, and to intensify collaboration with the Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (ÖFAI). ChatGrape says about 1,800 companies are on a waiting list for its beta. Financially, the startup has raised a $1.3M bridge round and previously secured €440,000 from angels and FFG, bringing total funding to just shy of $2M. The company is positioning its chat app to speed workflows and make integrations more proactive compared with incumbent team chat tools. ChatGrape is an intelligent team messaging app from Austria that uses "Deep Service Integration" to index and interact with third‑party tools (GitHub, BitBucket, Google Drive, Google Calendar and Trello; DropBox and Jira planned). Its # smart autocomplete lets users add, attach and reference files, issues and calendar entries directly in chat to reduce time lost switching between services. The company is developing NLP-driven chat intelligence with SAT and the Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (OFAI) to detect dates, assignments, polls and automatically trigger workflows. ChatGrape exposes a ChatGrape Index API to allow custom integrations for large enterprise customers and third‑party developers. It runs an invite-only beta with 300+ companies and roughly 1,500 active users who have sent over 100,000 messages. To date it has raised around €440,000 and is currently fundraising a larger seed round with several VCs/co-investors already committed. The company is building an enterprise version and aims to secure at least five large enterprise customers by summer 2015.

• nextSociety, Inc.

  Led · Seed · Dec 2014

  nextSociety builds a professional networking tool that lets users organize and prioritize contacts in their existing social networks by relevance, location and travel plans. The company launched a new version of its app introducing city check-in and ping communication for iOS and xS is currently available on the App Store. nextSociety operates a development hub in Vienna, Austria, and plans an Android version throughout 2015. The team is led by Peter Stebe (CEO), Ben Simsa (Head of Product & Operation) and Alexander Tange (Head of Market & Growth). Financially, nextSociety closed an additional seed funding infusion and also secured a grant from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). nextSociety builds a networking tool for professionals that filters users’ connections and suggests the most effective networking to-dos. The company says it will use the seed funding to build its tool and to develop its mobile app for Android and iPhone. nextSociety reports almost 2,000 pre-signups within a few weeks and is seeing 12% new-user growth each week for its unpromoted beta app. The team is co-founded by Peter Stebe, Alexander Tange and Ben Simsa and operates a development hub in Vienna, Austria. nextSociety has been named a TechStars finalist in New York and London and is a member of the Rackspace Startup program. The company is slated to present at SXSW Interactive Startup Spotlight in Austin, TX in March.

• TourRadar

  Participated · Equity · May 2014

  TourRadar is an online travel agency (OTA) that focuses on the multi-day touring market, enabling customers to book multi-day tours much like a package holiday. The platform lists more than 25,000 tours across 200 countries and works with over 600 local tour operators, including G Adventures, Contiki, and Collette. Headquartered in Vienna with offices in Brisbane and Toronto, the company currently targets English-speaking consumers and plans greater localization for markets such as Germany. TourRadar supports operator partners with features like instant bookings and tour reviews and is considering re-introducing community features for people in the same tour cohort. The company intends to use the funding to expand its global team and invest in its technology platform to provide a personalized user experience and develop a mobile app. Financially, TourRadar recently closed a $50 million Series C round consisting mostly of primary funding led by TCV. TourRadar operates an online marketplace that lets travelers compare and book multi-day tours, listing more than 20,000 tours across approximately 200 countries. The site covers a range of offerings from youth and adventure tours to luxury escorted vacations provided by established tour brands. Launched in 2010 by CEO Travis Pittman, the company is active across offices in Vienna, Toronto and Brisbane. TourRadar plans to use its recent funding to double headcount, primarily in its tech and product departments across those offices. It also intends to increase spending on performance marketing and build brand awareness through video and content partnerships. The company recently closed a funding round, which it will deploy toward these growth initiatives. TourRadar is a travel tour booking site that aggregates and sells touring products online, focused on scheduled departures and guided itineraries run by local or global operators. Founded by Australian brothers Travis and Shawn Pittman, the company relocated to Vienna, Austria. It partners with over 500 tour operators offering trips to more than 200 countries and has signed partnerships with Amadeus and Rough Guides. The service aims to simplify booking for travellers who would otherwise search many operator sites or use a high-street travel agent. TourRadar differentiates itself from bespoke marketplaces by concentrating on scheduled departures rather than tailor-made trips. The company reported a major growth spurt over the prior seven months and plans to scale demand further. Financially, TourRadar has just closed a $6 million Series A to support that expansion. TourRadar is an online travel agency focused on multi-day group tours, offering thousands of directly bookable trips and a marketplace where over 20,000 group tours can be compared. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Vienna, the company operates a booking engine and a ‘Meet App’ that helps travelers find travel buddies before trips. TourRadar is expanding into the $200+ billion tour industry and aims to convert more tour operators to its agency booking model. The startup emphasizes breadth and a social angle compared with platforms focused on local in-destination experiences. It has shown rapid traction in its agency business, achieving a $1.5 million run rate within six months of launching its booking engine and now exceeding $150K gross revenue per month. Management says the new funding will fuel growth, brand building, and further operator conversion.

No current team members are available.