Mapping "The Future of Work" Startup ecosystem

by Pietro Invernizzi

Date of analysis: 15 April 2020

Company Name Website Description $ raised to date Investors include Source

1 Messaging, Chat & Email

Front https://frontapp.com/ Team-based approach to email. Combines a company's social media, email, texts, and other messages into a shared inbox to which the entire team has access $138.3M Eric Yuan, Sequoia, Uncork Capital, Social Capital, eFounders, Boldstart https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/front-app#section-overview

Mattermost https://mattermost.com/ Enterprise-grade messaging solutions: secure, configurable, highly-scalable messaging across web, phone and PC with archiving, search etc. $70.0M YCombinator, Redpoint, Battery, S28 Capital https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/mattermost

Flock https://flock.com/uk/ Real-time messaging and collaboration app for teams that speeds up and simplifies communication and boosts productivity $45.0M Bhavin Turakhia, Plug & Play https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/flock-2

Superhuman https://superhuman.com/ The "fastest email experience ever made," with keyboard shortcuts, additional features, and reminders to help you reach inbox zero in less time $33.0M First Round Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Boldstart https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/superhuman#section-overview

Quill https://quill.chat/ Messaging software built for productivity, not engagement $14.5M Index Ventures, General Catalyst, Sam Altman https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/quill-chat

Threads https://threads.com/ Makes work more inclusive by empowering teams to discuss and make decisions at scale $10.5M Sequoia https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/threads-aa50#section-overview

Spike https://www.spikenow.com/ Converts existing emails into a multimedia mobile messaging format $7.3M NFX, Wix, Cubit Investments, Roy Oron https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hop-2

'nuffsaid https://www.nuffsaid.com/ A workflow intelligence platform that centralizes the world’s work apps and focuses people on the work that matters $4.3M General Catalyst, WorkLife Ventures https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/nuffsaid#section-overview

Involve https://www.involvesoft.com/ A communication "Operative System" for your distributed / dispersed workforce; SaaS for improving org alignment for companies with mobile workers $2.5M Bonfire Ventures, Greycroft https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/glipped

Yac https://www.yac.com/ Voice Collaboration SaaS for Remote Teams; very interesting as - similarly to Loom - it's a great platform enabling asynchronous communication (vs. real time) $1.5M Active Capital, Boost VC https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/yac

Polymail https://polymail.io/ Email platform for teams, combining email with real time collaboration and integrating it with your team's other tools $0.8M YCombinator, Zuma Partners, Erik Torenberg, Jude Gomila https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/polymail#section-overview

Workvivo https://www.workvivo.com/ Similar to Compose: the place where all the tools your employees love to use everyday come together in a unified digital platform. $0.6M Eric Yuan https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/workvivo

Blink https://joinblink.com/ Making remote working less remote through an all-in-one app that gives every employee a sense of community $0.6M Techstars https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/kimono-3

Doist (Twist) https://doist.com/ Through its product Twist, Doist offers a communication app for teams who want a calmer, more organized, more productive workplace $0.0M N.a. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/doist

/talk https://slashtalk.com/ An anti-meeting tool that decentralizes conversations so teams can move faster in an exciting new way N.a. Benchmark, WorkLife Ventures N.a.

Compose https://compose.im/ Similar to Workvivo: A space that brings together all your essential communication tools into one N.a. N.a. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/quanterium

2 Virtual Offices / Focus Enablers

Spatial https://spatial.io/ Turns the space around you into a shared augmented workplace using VC. Remote users can collaborate & brainstorm as if they were in the same room $22.3M Inovia Capital, Kakao Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, White Star Capital https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/spatial-7213

Range https://www.range.co/ "Operating System for work" that keeps you in sync with your team through regular check-ins, day planning sessions, "accomplishment logs' etc. $8.5M General Catalyst, First Round Capital, Bloomberg Beta, Precursor Ventures https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/range-labs#section-overview

Tandem https://tandem.chat/ Brings the ease of sitting huddled around the same computer to employees working from anywhere $7.5M Andreessen Horowitz, Shasta Ventures, WorkLife Ventures https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tandem-a224

Motion https://www.inmotion.app/ Provides real-time interventions, reminders, and analytic, preventing people from getting distracted on the web $0.2M YCombinator https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/motion-f1df

Focusmate https://www.focusmate.com/ Virtual co-working which connects other professionals who have committed to being accountable for finishing their most important work N.a. Amasia https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/focusmate

Teemly https://teemly.net/ Virtual office connecting distributed teams: see what’s going on in the "office"; co-work "side by side"; grab a coffee with a colleague in the "coffee room" etc. N.a. Antler N.a.

Remotion https://www.remotion.com/ Desktop app that shows your team’s selfies and availability so you can jump into quick video chats N.a. N.a. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/remotion#section-overview

Pragli https://pragli.com/ Virtual office for remote teams, enabling remote workers to dive into impromptu conversations with audio channels & direct conversations, walkie talkie style N.a. N.a. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/pragli#section-overview

3 Voice & Video

Fuze https://www.fuze.com/# Unified communications platform that enables simplified business voice communications, flexible video conferencing, and always-on collaboration $480.4M Summit Partners, Bessemer, TCV, Wellington Management https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fuze

Dialpad https://www.dialpad.com/ Business phone system that turns your conversations into something you can see and use, so you understand, remember, and learn from everything that’s said $120.0M Andreessen Horowitz, GV, ICONIQ Capital https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dialpad

Chorus https://www.chorus.ai/ Twist to videocalls: Making video calls milestone-based & trackable to assess sales performance $55.3M Georgian Partners, Redpoint, Emergence, Gil Dibner https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/chorus-ai

Loom https://www.loom.com/ A video messaging app that lets users record short videos, rather than type long emails or spend time in meetings, to get their ideas across $44.8M Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Point Nine, Mathilde Collin, Daniel Gross https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/loom

StarLeaf https://www.starleaf.com/ Enables seamless collaboration through intelligently engineered, reliable meeting room systems, superior video conferencing, and secure messaging $40.0M Grafton Capital, Highland Europe, Future Fifty https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/starleaf

Otter.ai https://otter.ai/ Capture, search and share meetings, lectures and live events $23.0M Horizons Ventures, Draper Associates, Slow Ventures, GGV Capital https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/aisense-inc#section-overview

OwlLabs https://www.owllabs.com/ A smart and visually appealing video conferencing camera (hardware+software) $22.3M Spark, Matrix Partners, Playground Global https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/owl-labs

Around https://www.around.co/ Took video meetings and made them less intrusive, less clunky. Gives you a clear view of your teammates while making space for work $5.2M Floodgate, Credo Ventures, Initialized Capital, Naval Ravikant, Ryan Hoover https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/around-teamport-inc

Fireflies.ai https://fireflies.ai/ Making video calls searchable; SaaS tool for automated notes from online meetings; Automatically record, transcribe and collaborate across your meetings $5.1M Acceleprise, Canaan Partners, Susan Kimberlin, April Underwood https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fireflies-3

Krisp https://krisp.ai/ Makes remote workers more professional allowing them to take calls from wherever they want without worrying about privacy and background noise $3.5M Granatus Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Shanda Group, HIVE Ventures https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/krisp-af3e

Demodesk https://demodesk.com/ Online meeting tool for inside sales and CS teams solving the screen sharing pain: no downloads, content shared on a virtual display, instant control sharing $2.6M YCombinator, Global Founders Capital, Kleiner Perkins, FundersClub https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/demodesk

Grain https://www.grain.co/ Record & share the best parts of your Zoom video calls. Take notes together. Create video highlights. Share clips anywhere (Twitter, DIscord, Notion, Slack etc.) $4.0M Acrew, Founder Collective, Slack Fund, Sriram Krishnan, Andreas Klinger https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/16/grain-a-startup-built-expressly-atop-of-zoom-for-note-taking-and-video-clip-making-raises-4-million/

Whereby https://whereby.com/ Collaboration tool for easy video meetings. No downloads, no logins N.a. N.a. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/whereby#section-overview

GitDuck https://gitduck.com/ Code sharing and screen recorder software for developers to create videos that are linked to their code N.a.