A*****A Capital

Startup Wise Guys is one of the most active early stage investors in the broader CEE region and Nordics, has been voted Top VC fund in the CEE in year 2019. To help techy startup founders become true entrepreneurs, we are running a world-class startup accelerator since 2012. We have accelerated more than 300 startups, focusing on Sustainability, B2B SaaS, Fintech, Cybersecurity, and XR. The portfolio has already had 11 major exits and the overall startup survival and success rate is above 80%. The intensive up to 5 months-long accelerator program is focused on validating, developing, and selling products to business customers. Over 200 international and local mentors help startups move through those stages much faster than they would on their own. Founders are also prepared to sell their vision to investors, and the program culminates in Demo Days & major tech event visits, where startups get to present to venture capitalists and angel investors. Post-program, startups join the alumni community of 300+ startups in more than 40 countries and become eligible for invite-only alumni events such as SWG Getaway focused on business development, fundraising, and experience sharing.

Startup Wise Guys

TMT Investments PLC invests in high-growth technology companies across a number of core specialist sectors and has a significant number of Silicon Valley investments in its portfolio. Founded in 2010, TMT has invested in over 65 companies to date.  The Company’s objective is to generate  an  attractive  rate  of  return  for  shareholders,  predominantly  through  capital  appreciation.    The Company is traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. www.tmtinvestments.com.

TMT Investments

Insta Ventures is a venture capital firm that has been investing in different IT technology sectors since 2019. Currently, we are looking for tech startups that are in the early stages of development of their products. Our investment team consists of experienced professionals with solid backgrounds in the IT sphere. Our goal is to help ambitious teams create innovative products, spread them globally, and maintain fast-growing companies. Typically, we invest $100K-500K during a growing stage of a company's lifecycle (seed / late seed / pre-round A), and then help to develop its marketing and sales, as well as prepare the company for the next investment phase. We appreciate co-investments. Let's invest together!

Insta Ventures

YellowRockets.vc is a managing company for international and russian venture capital funds. The fund focused on startups at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Round A-stages with a strong team and the potential for international expansion, and invest in them up to $2M. YellowRockets helps portfolio companies enter the U.S. and Latin American markets and attract investments in the next rounds. Funds focused on (but are not limited to) investments in companies in SaaS, Super Apps, Marketplaces, RPA, Metaverse, ESG, and based on AI/ML, Automation, Cloud Solutions, Data Processing, and Blockchain technologies.

YellowRockets

Conte.ai

Conte.ai is a proprietary social media AI autopilot that creates and publishes content on social networks instead of you. Awesome, effective, and unique posts. Automatic posting to your accounts. Autopilot runs without your input.

Postoplan is a freemium social media management and marketing automation tool that helps users create, schedule, and promote content across various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. Its user-friendly interface allows users to schedule automatic posting, connect an unlimited number of accounts and users, access pre-prepared post examples, and receive daily news hooks for swift content creation.

POSTOPLAN - Product Information, Latest Updates, and Reviews 2024

Marketing automator Postoplan raises $1.5 million, sets sights squarely on the US

POSTOPLAN

Social media management tools for marketing automation: manage social media in one place

Postoplan: Streamline Your Social Media Management and Marketing Automation

Harnessing the power of social influence to fuel online sales

Social Commerce

Postoplan

Postoplan is a freemium social media management and marketing automation tool that helps users create, schedule, and promote content across various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. Its user-friendly interface allows users to schedule automatic posting, connect an unlimited number of accounts and users, access pre-prepared post examples, and receive daily news hooks for swift content creation.
Postoplan offers features such as a content calendar for visualizing and organizing posts, post recycling to republish evergreen content automatically, built-in graphic editing tools, and integration with popular platforms like Slack and Google My Business. Additionally, it claims to be the world's first platform enabling content creation and automatic publishing on WhatsApp.
In March 2021, Postoplan reported generating over USD 1 million in revenue within 14 months of its launch in 2020, boasting an average annual revenue growth rate exceeding 20% month-over-month. By July 2021, the company raised USD 1.5 million to strengthen its market position in the US, targeting the SMB segment.

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows users to schedule, publish, monitor, and analyze social media content across multiple networks from a unified dashboard. Its key product offerings include content scheduling tools, social media monitoring and analytics, team collaboration features, social listening capabilities, and integrations with various social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Hootsuite's core functionality revolves around the ability to streamline social media management processes by centralizing various social media activities into a single platform. Its scheduling tools enable users to plan and queue content for publishing across different social networks, while its monitoring features facilitate tracking brand mentions, competitor activities, and audience engagement. The platform's analytics tools provide insights into social media performance, aiding users in understanding the effectiveness of their social media strategies.
Hootsuite also emphasizes team collaboration by allowing multiple users to access and manage social media accounts, assign roles and permissions, and implement approval workflows for content publishing. Additionally, its social listening capabilities enable users to monitor conversations, trends, and keywords relevant to their brand or industry.
While Hootsuite offers a free trial and a limited free plan, its more advanced features are available through paid subscription plans, with pricing tiers ranging from the Professional plan at USD 99 per month (billed annually) to the Enterprise plan tailored for larger organizations with custom pricing.

Hootsuite

GRIN is a comprehensive influencer marketing platform designed to help brands manage their influencer programs efficiently. It streamlines the entire process, from identifying and recruiting suitable influencers to facilitating product seeding, campaign management, content tracking, and performance reporting. GRIN's key features include a vast creator database, advanced search capabilities, Shopify integration for seamless product fulfillment, automated communication workflows, and robust analytics tools.
GRIN's platform allows brands to discover and connect with influencers across various social media channels, including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. By leveraging GRIN's extensive database, brands can filter and search for influencers that align with their target audience and campaign goals. The platform's Shopify integration simplifies the process of sending products to influencers, creating trackable links, and generating discount codes.
Once influencers are on board, GRIN enables brands to create and manage campaigns, define deliverables, and automate communication sequences. The platform tracks influencer content, captures user-generated content (UGC), and provides detailed performance metrics, including engagement rates, conversions, and revenue generated. GRIN's reporting capabilities allow brands to analyze the success of their influencer campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
Key customers and partnerships
GRIN has collaborated with notable brands such as MVMT, a luxury watch company, Lume Cube, a specialty lighting brand, tentree, an apparel brand, Darn Good Yarn, Tubby Todd, and Hush Blankets. These partnerships demonstrate GRIN's ability to cater to diverse industries and support businesses in scaling their influencer marketing efforts.

GRIN

Bazaarvoice is a technology company that provides a Social Commerce AI suite, enabling brands to curate and showcase user-generated content across various social media platforms. Its flagship product, the Media Library, serves as a centralized hub for collecting, publishing, and managing social content from customers, influencers, partners, and the brand itself. This tool leverages AI-powered features to sort, tag, and prioritize high-performing media content, streamlining workflow and expediting legal approvals.
The company's Social Commerce AI suite offers a range of solutions to optimize social engagement and drive conversions. It generates on-brand photo captions, surfaces authentic user-generated content aligned with the brand's identity, and identifies top trends and themes for social media strategies. Bazaarvoice's Like2Buy solution allows brands to create shoppable Instagram and TikTok feeds, where visitors can browse products, read posts, and make purchases directly from the social storefront.
Additionally, Bazaarvoice's Showroom feature transforms photos and videos into interactive storefronts, enabling users to discover new products through visually appealing AI-powered experiences. This approach has proven effective, with 46% of Showroom visits converting to ecommerce sessions.
In terms of performance metrics, the company's solutions have demonstrated impressive results. Like2Buy visitors convert to ecommerce sessions at a rate of 59%, and these referred visitors tend to spend more time browsing, view more pages, and have higher average order values compared to average mobile consumers.

Bazaarvoice

NTWRK is a curated live video shopping platform that offers exclusive access to limited-edition products across various categories like sneakers, streetwear, collectibles, and more. It revolutionized the ecommerce industry by combining live streaming with online shopping, creating an engaging and interactive experience for consumers.
NTWRK's platform allows customers to watch live streams hosted by influencers, celebrities, or brand representatives who showcase and discuss the featured products. During these events, viewers can interact through live chat, ask questions, and make purchases seamlessly without leaving the video stream. This innovative approach provides transparency, fosters a sense of community, and creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity around the products on offer.
Since its inception in 2018, NTWRK has partnered with renowned artists, brands, and personalities such as Post Malone, Lewis Hamilton, BLACKPINK, and Takashi Murakami, offering their fans unprecedented access to exclusive collaborations and limited releases. The company has been at the forefront of the live stream shopping industry, which is estimated to reach USD 68 billion in sales by 2026 in the US alone.
In February 2024, NTWRK acquired the popular youth culture media company Complex, marking a significant step in its evolution. By merging Complex's content and reach with NTWRK's ecommerce platform, the combined entity aims to create a comprehensive digital hub for "superfan" culture, encompassing commerce, digital media, and music.
Key customers and partnerships
Through its strategic partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), NTWRK gained access to industry-leading music labels like Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) and Capitol Music Group. This collaboration allows NTWRK to deliver exclusive collaborations and cultural experiences directly to passionate music fans, deepening the connection between artists and their audiences.
Notable partnerships include exclusive collaborations with BLACKPINK x Murakami and the Interscope 30th Anniversary vinyl collection, featuring dialogues between visual artists like Damien Hirst, Kehinde Wiley, and Ed Ruscha, and iconic Interscope artists from the past three decades.

NTWRK

ShopShops is a live-shopping platform that allows hosts to showcase and sell products in real-time to viewers through livestreaming. The company primarily focuses on the fashion and lifestyle segment, offering pre-owned luxury and designer brands. ShopShops' business model involves connecting retail brands with creators, referred to as hosts, who can represent and sell the brands' products through live video sessions.
The platform operates as a three-sided marketplace, facilitating the interaction between brands, hosts, and consumers. Brands can hire hosts on an hourly or event basis to showcase their products during live streams, providing a personalized shopping experience to viewers. This approach aims to bridge the gap between traditional retail and ecommerce by replicating an offline shopping experience online.
ShopShops initially launched in China in 2017 and observed consumer behavior similar to the early adoption phase of live shopping in that market. The company entered the US market in 2022, recognizing the growth potential as American consumers become more receptive to this shopping format. ShopShops anticipates that by 2024, major US brands will incorporate live streaming into their marketing strategies, following a similar trajectory to the adoption of platforms like TikTok.
While live shopping in the US is expected to be more segmented across vertical categories compared to China's more centralized platforms, ShopShops believes its focus on the female fashion and lifestyle vertical positions it well for success. The platform aims to expand into other verticals such as home and arts in the future.

ShopShops

Platforms for creating, scheduling, and managing a brand or independent seller’s social media presence. A number of these platforms also provide AI-powered social listening and data analytics tools to gauge customer sentiment.

AI-powered tools for automatically monitoring and responding to customer queries across multiple social media channels.

Platforms for identifying and managing influencers to promote and sell products and services through social media.

Tools typically used by influencers to demonstrate and sell products and services via social media. The solutions are the digital equivalents of live teleshopping programs.

Platforms for curating and displaying customer reviews, recommendations, and product and service feedback on a brand or independent sellers' social media pages and websites.

Tools to create and implement instant shopping features to an image or video advertisement

Increases transparency of the effectiveness of social commerce by providing solutions for attribution and measurement

Relevant for social chatbots segment that uses AI/ML to provide automated responses to customers

Creates virtual assets for Metaverse stores and marketing on metaverse platforms

Social media platforms such as Snap are developing AR solutions for live shopping experiences

Postoplan

Sources

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless