Utrecht-based Trengo, a shared inbox startup, raises €1.75 million to expand in Europe

Utrecht-based Trengo, a shared inbox startup, raises €1.75 million to expand in Europe

Dutch startup Trengo, which streamlines customer requests into a shared team-inbox, has today announced raising a €1.75 million investment by venture capital fund Peak Capital. With the new funds in the bank, Trengo will accelerate its rapid growth in Europe.

Trengo, founded in 2017, streamlines all emails, social media, WhatsApp messages, and calls into one team inbox, allowing customer service or sales teams to collaborate in handling requests. Trengo also enables teams to automate conversations with their customers via chatbots and flow-bots. Over the last three years, the founders Patrick Meutzner, Marcel van de Weerd and Igo Trampe have bootstrapped the company and gained over 700 clients. 

Johan van Mil, co-founder and managing partner of Peak Capital, said :”There is a tremendous growth of new communication channels in the client communication market, from live chat to Instagram. While there are solutions focused on improving one specific channel, Trengo stands out by enabling brands to efficiently handle conversations across all of these different platforms. We are impressed by the team and their ability to rapidly develop their product. More impressive still is the fast growth the Trengo team achieved without raising external investments.”

Patrick Meutzner, co-founder of Trengo, said: “We have been fully bootstrapped since day one, driven by an awesome culture and a great team. We were not actively looking for funding, since our business is growing fast and we are already profitable. However, as we got to know Peak Capital, we were impressed by their knowledge and experience of how to scale our business even further. With our ambition of scaling Trengo internationally, we found the perfect partner in Peak Capital to support us in our journey.”

With the investment, Trengo will expand their sales and marketing team and further improve their product. Along with improving their position in the Netherlands, Trengo will focus on accelerating their growth in Europe.

London-based Tractable snaps up €22.7 million to repair lives with its AI-driven accident and disaster recovery

London-based Tractable snaps up €22.7 million to repair lives with its AI-driven accident and disaster recovery

The UK startup Tractable, developing AI for accident and disaster recovery, today announces a new Series C investment of approximately €22.7 million, led by Georgian Partners, and with participation from existing investors, including Insight Partners and Ignition Partners. The round nearly doubles the total raised by Tractable, to over €50 million.

Tractable, founded in 2014, uses AI to look at photos of damage and predict repair costs, whether the accident was ‘man-made’ or from a natural disaster. By providing this data to the largest insurers worldwide, claims are settled quickly and efficiently, which in turn helps repair livelihoods faster after the stress of an accident. The technology is the brainchild of a team of researchers from Oxford and Cambridge, who have established offices in the UK and US and recently opened a permanent office in Japan, with over 90+ people now working for the startup. 

The investment will accelerate Tractable’s expansion into new markets from the nine countries in which it currently operates. Accidents and disasters affect hundreds of millions of people every year, with a worldwide financial impact reaching almost €1 trillion, and recovery for those affected always starts with a visual appraisal. Tractable’s AI is trained on millions of examples, allowing accurate identification of damage and prediction of repair costs, while improving appraisal efficiency and customer experience.

Alex Dalyac, CEO and founder of Tractable, said: “Our mission at Tractable is to bring AI breakthroughs to real-world problems and by doing so, make a positive difference to people’s lives. We’re achieving that every day, as our technology means people across the world are recovering their livelihoods more quickly after an accident. This new investment from Georgian Partners, who have a standout track record in investing in software companies, shows informed investors believe we will scale our success even further and reach new markets, new clients, and new areas to operate in.”

Tractable’s AI is used today by global leaders – including Ageas in the UK, France’s Covéa, Japan’s Tokio Marine and Polish insurer Talanx-Warta – to analyse vehicle damage effectively and efficiently. 

Emily Walsh, Principal at Georgian Partners said: “Tractable’s sophisticated approach to computer vision applied to accident recovery is resonating with the largest players globally, who are using the platform to make real-time, data-driven decisions while dramatically improving the customer experience. We’re incredibly excited to partner with the Tractable team to help them move even faster on bringing the next wave of technological innovation to accident and disaster recovery across the world.”

Lonne Jaffe, Managing Director at Insight Partners and Tractable Board Director, said: “Tractable has achieved tremendous scale in the past year with a customer base across nine countries, a differentiated data asset, and the expansion of their team to over 100 employees across London, New York, and now Tokyo. We are excited to continue to invest in Tractable as the team brings its powerful AI technology to many more countries.”

Helsinki-based Sensible 4 raises €6.3 million to expand its autonomous driving system for harsh weather

Helsinki-based Sensible 4 raises €6.3 million to expand its autonomous driving system for harsh weather

Today Finnish startup Sensible 4, an autonomous driving tech pioneer, has raised approximately €6.3 million in a series A funding round, which will give it the boost it needs to expand across Europe and Asia. As Sensible 4’s first investment round, the funding was led by NordicNinja VC, a Nordic deeptech fund backed by Japanese tech companies, and ITOCHU, one of Japan’s largest trading companies.

Sensible 4, founded in 2017, specialises in vehicle automation systems that can handle the harshest winter conditions, coming straight from the Nordics. Challenging weather and limited sensor visibility have long been a problem for driverless vehicles. The company’s solution — which is first in allowing for self-driving in snow, fog and heavy rain — has attracted growing attention from major automotive players since the startups’ inception in 2017. It’s even created a new sector: “Snowtonomous technology”.

“We are very proud to have such strong investors joining Sensible 4 as shareholders. We are still one of the only companies in this field that can drive autonomously in all weather conditions. With the investment, we will be able to develop the technology to a level that allows us to integrate this to commercial use,” says Harri Santamala, co-founder and CEO of Sensible 4.

In 2019, Sensible 4 released the autonomous shuttle bus GACHA, in cooperation with Japanese retail company MUJI, which has sparked significant interest in Japan. The company is already one of the most well-known Nordic startups in the country. GACHA has received a lot of positive attention, and won the “GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD” (the number one recognition for design in Japan), as well as the prestigious ‘Beazley Designs of the Year’ award in the Transport category at the Design Museum in London. Sensible 4 also won ‘Best startup’ at the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport and collected almost €1 million in prize money.

These fresh funds are expected to double and complete in summer, but until then, the first phase of this investment round will be put towards commercial production, software development and partly to build more GACHA busses, which will enter the Japanese and Chinese market at the end of the year.

“The global autonomous driving solutions still struggle to work in particular conditions like heavy snow, fog or typhoons. Sensible 4’s approach based on their long-term research for autonomous driving is totally different from other existing approaches. Their unique technology enables any kind of autonomous vehicle to drive anywhere and anytime. We are so excited to make this dream reality together with the “dream team” of autonomous driving vehicles,” says Tomosaku Sohara, Managing Partners at NordicNinja VC.

“We are very pleased to partner with Sensible 4 which provides with a unique LiDAR-based software built with state-of-the-art sensor fusion technology. Which makes self-driving cars operate safely in all weather conditions. Amidst the rapid advance of the progress and spread of 5G network worldwide, we believe Sensible 4’s self-driving technology will for sure contribute to developing mobility of the future with global auto manufacturers. In addition, we are very happy with the alliance with Sensible 4 and NordicNinja VC since it will also strengthen the close relationship between Itochu and Finland.” – Shunsuke Noda, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Itochu.

Nantes-based Avoloi, snags €2.5 million to expand its lawyer-client contact platform

Nantes-based Avoloi, snags €2.5 million to expand its lawyer-client contact platform

Avoloi team

French startup Avoloi, the lawyer-client platform, has raised €2.5 million in a round led by West Web Valley, SWEN Capital Partners and Naoleb. The fresh funds will be used to develop its platform, expand its network of lawyers and accelerate the deployment of its solution to new users.

Avoloi, founded in 2012, is a SaaS legaltech startup aiming to do what Doctolib and Doctoralia have done for doctors and patients. Its software suite allows lawyers to increase their presence in front of new clients, as well as let individuals search and access legal expertise and lawyers according to their issues. For lawyers, its software takes care of booking appointments, invoicing and other administrative tasks, speeding up the process for everyone involved. 

Platforms such as Avoloi are also responding to today’s growing demand for transparency and accessibility in more traditional sectors like legal services and medicine, removing barriers and giving individuals the chance to know more about professionals before they book an appointment. On the other hand, legal professionals are also given the chance to directly interact with customers and answer their questions, offering a peek into their expertise and approachability. 

Founded by Maxime Delauney, the team is steadily growing and will use these fresh funds to continue its platform development. In addition, in 2020 it plans to expand the network of lawyers using the platform to advertise their services, as well as recruit developers to accelerate the deployment of its solution.

Google and Toyota Tsusho invest in WhereIsMyTransport to improve transport in developing countries

Google and Toyota Tsusho invest in WhereIsMyTransport to improve transport in developing countries

WhereIsMyTransport

London-based WhereIsMyTransport, a startup improving mass public transport in emerging markets, has announced a €6.8 million Series A round participated in by returning investors Global Innovation Fund and Goodwell Investments, plus new strategic investment from Google, Nedbank, Liil Ventures, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC).

WhereIsMyTransport, founded in 2015, is a big data platform for sustainable mobility in emerging markets, empowering people everywhere to get where they want to go. It is mapping the emerging world’s public transport networks, to become the de facto source of information for governments and service providers to improve transport services for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. 

Mobility is a fundamental driver of social, political, and economic growth. In the majority world, it remains a critical stumbling block for billions of people living without reliable access to formal public transport services. They depend instead on vast, informally-run transport networks that often operate in unsafe areas. The absence of information about these services makes them unreliable and unpredictable. WhereIsMyTransport is on a mission to change that, using data and technology to develop solutions to this problem so that everyone in these markets has the basic freedom of movement they need to be able to improve their circumstances.

The startup first began its work in Africa, before expanding into India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America in 2018. These fresh funds will enable WhereIsMyTransport to further extend its global reach, scaling its data-collection practice, and developing new technology to translate complex data into useful information for commuters in the world’s fastest-growing low- and middle-income cities.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest in WhereIsMyTransport’s Series A funding,” says Mr. Masato Yamanami, Automotive Division’s CEO of Toyota Tsusho Corporation. “Our division’s global network, that covers 146 countries, is primarily focused on new emerging countries where people rely on informal public transport. Through strategic collaboration with WhereIsMyTransport, we will develop better and more efficient mobility services that help to resolve social challenges and contribute to the overall economic development of nations, primarily emerging nations.”

With more than 750,000 km of routes in 39 cities, WhereIsMyTransport has more mobility data in emerging markets than any other organisation. The company’s integrated mobility hub translates formal and informal public transport data into information for citizens, governments, and third parties. 

Janade Du Plessis, Head of Alternative Investments and Venture Capital at Nedbank added: “Nedbank CIB is at the forefront of investing in disruptive technologies that are able to make a meaningful difference to people’s lives – including smart city initiatives that leverages Nedbank’s strategy of financing our infrastructure, transport and logistics clients. WhereIsMyTransport is a leading provider of sustainable transit solutions in complex urban environments. Our investment will support the company’s expansion into key African regions, and we will use our network and our influence on the continent to unlock new corporate partnerships.“ 

Porto-based Sword Health raises additional €8.1 million to expand its tech-enabled physical therapy

Porto-based Sword Health raises additional €8.1 million to expand its tech-enabled physical therapy

swordhealth

Portuguese startup Sword Health has announced securing approximately €8.1 million in the second phase of its Series A funding round, which brings the round’s total to around €15.4 million. Khosla Ventures led with participation from Founders Fund, Green Innovations, Lachy Groom, Vesalius Biocapital and Faber Ventures. This news comes roughly a year after the startup announced the first phase of its Series A funding.

Sword Health, founded in 2015, works with insurers, health systems and self-insured employers to provide tech-enabled physical therapy to its members, with a focus on musculoskeletal disorders. Split between a European office in Porto, a US office in NY and a team also in Australia, it has created a wearable with motion-sensing trackers that wirelessly communicates with the digital therapist. The therapist then guides the patient through each therapy session with real-time feedback. This kind of medtech is more in demand than ever, as patients increasingly look to stay in their home for care.

The company plans to put the new funds raised toward distribution, partnerships, sales and marketing. 

“At Sword, we’ve taken a disciplined and incremental approach to growth,” Virgilio Bento, founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Given the strong interest from the investment community and the demand we’re seeing in the market, we decided it was the right moment to expand and set SWORD’s digital care programme as the new gold standard of care in the musculoskeletal space.”

“Sword’s digital clinical care model has been shown to significantly improve healthcare outcomes for patients while reducing employer costs, reshaping the future of physical therapy,” Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said in a statement. “This allows for very exciting options on innovative business models for the company.”