Participated · Equity · Nov 2022

Founded in Estonia in 2017, Yaga operates an online marketplace focused on second-hand fashion, combining social features with secure escrow payments and localised logistics. The company has become the leading resale platform in South Africa and now attracts more than 12 million monthly visits. Yaga’s value proposition centres on affordability—items are typically listed at 50–80 percent below new retail prices—while advancing sustainable consumption. Revenue is generated from transaction fees, though specific figures were not disclosed in the article. With its newly raised capital, the company plans to deepen its footprint across Africa and expand into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Management believes the global shift toward resale, projected to push the second-hand apparel market to $367 billion by 2029, provides a large, tail-wind market opportunity. The fresh funding will also be used to grow the team and enhance product capabilities in existing markets.

Participated · Series A · Jul 2020

Tandem operates a language-exchange app that connects learners with native speakers for mutual practice via text, phone chat or video and provides optional tutor access. The product emphasizes community-driven native-speaker practice rather than lesson-led courses. Membership has grown from about 1 million in 2017 to more than 10 million users across 180 countries, with engagement on video chat tripling and new user signups up 200% during the COVID-19 period. The company reports it has been profitable since 2019 and that 94% of its user base uses the freemium offering while monetizing via a Tandem Pro subscription ($9.99/month). Its largest markets are China (10%), the U.S. (9%) and Japan (9%). Tandem plans to use the new funding to develop additional app features and expand marketing and engineering teams, growing headcount from 24 to about 50. Tandem is a mobile-first messaging community that matches native speakers and learners to practise languages via text, audio and video chat. The app supports 148 languages (including 11 sign languages) and 11,026 language pairs, and reports 1.2 million active users from 160 countries and 1.5 million downloads. The platform enforces moderated profiles and community rules to prioritize respectful, non-flirting language practice; 80% of users are aged 17–35 and 60% are female. Tandem has begun monetizing by offering paid lessons with vetted tutors (around 150 tutors listed) and currently takes a 20% cut of tutors' revenue. The company aims to grow its peer-to-peer community and teacher marketplace, add more structured learning journeys and mobile-first features for tutors to increase network effects and retention. Work on Tandem began in fall 2014 and the team emphasizes making the tutor experience frictionless so teachers can run their business entirely from a smartphone or tablet.

Participated · Seed · Jan 2018

Sweatcoin’s app hooks into smartphone health data and GPS to track steps and awards users a monetary "sweat" value (about 0.95 per 1,000 steps) that can be redeemed for goods and services. The app is designed to reward outdoor walking (though the article notes it sometimes counts indoor steps on the reviewer’s phone). Users can trade accumulated sweatcoins for fitness gear, workout classes, gift cards and other offerings; the free tier caps daily earnings at five coins while paid tiers lift that limit. The company reported growing to more than 5 million users in the past year, over 2 million weekly active users, and a 266% revenue increase in the last quarter. Sweatcoin plans to expand beyond the U.S. and U.K. to other English-speaking countries and then to continental Europe and Asia. Co-founders Anton Derlyatka and Oleg Fomenko have also discussed building an open-source blockchain DLT to enable trading of sweatcoin and even the future possibility of paying taxes with the currency.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2017

Jodel is a Berlin-based social app that lets users post anonymously to a local feed visible within a 10-kilometre radius. The network generates about five million posts per day and is mainly active in Germany and Scandinavia. The majority of users are students, and the platform has become known for spreading silly jokes. The app has also been used for pro-social actions, such as organizing donations to a local homeless man. With a new €6 million investment from Silicon Valley backers, the company plans to continue growing. Jodel intends to use the funding to expand into the US market. Jodel is a Berlin, Germany-based provider of a localization-based social livefeed app. The app allows users to communicate with others within a perimeter of up to 10 kilometres via an anonymous feed. Contributions can be up- or down-voted and commented on by the community, and positive engagement is rewarded with Karma points. The company is led by CEO Alessio Avellán Borgmeyer and COO Tim Schmitz. Jodel raised funding from Redalpine Venture Partners; the amount was not disclosed. It is using the funds to continue expanding operations and is hiring.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2014

Taxify is a ride-hailing platform founded in Estonia in 2013 by Markus and Martin Villig. The company operates in more than 25 countries, predominantly across Europe and Africa, and has also forayed into Australia. Taxify reported over 500,000 drivers and more than 10 million users, and its ride volumes grew ten-fold last year. Its strategy is to be a second mover—entering proven markets with lower commissions and giving more back to riders and drivers while avoiding costly regulatory battles. The company plans to deploy new capital to develop its technology and fund further expansion in Europe and Africa. Taxify positions itself as a cost-competitive alternative to incumbent ride-hailers like Uber. Taxify operates an Uber-like ride-hailing platform offering private cars and licensed taxis across 18 countries, primarily in Europe and Africa. The company is headquartered in Estonia and was founded by former Skype employees. Taxify claims about 2.5 million users and says it is second to Uber in its regions. It has raised a relatively modest €2 million (~$2.4M) to date. The company is planning an expansion to London later this year. The platform’s core focus is on growing its presence in emerging markets while developing smarter products for riders and drivers. Taxify provides iOS, Android and mobile web apps that let users order taxis, choose by arrival time, price, car model and ratings, and track vehicles on a live map. The company positions itself as a technology platform and marketing channel for licensed taxi firms and individual drivers to compete with services like Uber. It is active in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland and says it is eyeing four more countries, including the Netherlands. Taxify intends to consolidate what it claims is a leading position in Eastern Europe and use technology to help traditional taxi operators win additional orders. The startup recently raised new funding to support further European expansion. Financially, the company has added an incremental capital injection to prior seed funding to fund growth plans. Taxify provides an all-in-one platform for existing taxi companies, including a web-based dispatcher and fleet-management systems, and presents multiple cab businesses in a single consumer app. The app lets riders choose specific drivers with profiles that show photos, prices and feedback. Taxify charges cab companies €12–15 per driver per month (individual drivers are charged per client) and focuses on serving SMEs. The service launched last fall and currently operates in Estonia and Latvia across three cities. Since launch it has handled over 150,000 bookings in total, roughly 50,000 monthly bookings, about 40,000 downloads in six months and around 15,000 monthly active users, growing at about 55% monthly. The platform works with nine active taxi companies and 950 drivers, with five additional companies on trial, and uses a franchise-style local partner programme that grants city managers a revenue share to aid expansion. Taxify plans near-term expansion in Eastern Europe and intends to enter Lithuania, Sweden, Finland and Georgia in the next four months, with additional Western Europe and Asia launches in preparation.