A Dundee software start-up has snared £400,000 in fresh investment as it continues efforts to allow workers to eliminate round-robin emails and unclog their inboxes.
City-based Allthings said a string of well-known local backers had supported its corporate organiser and task-listing tool after it called for more development capital.
But that £200,000 investment has now been followed by match-funding from the Scottish Investment Bank through national business agency Scottish Enterprise.
The boost comes just months after the cloud-based software was launched last summer, and ahead of the release of a new ‘team’ edition targeted for use by larger organisations on a user licence basis.
Founders David Hay, Dee Ward and Ralph Hasselgren first worked together at city software developer HoundDog Technology, ahead of its acquisition by American firm GFI Software in 2009.
Mr Hay said he and his colleagues’ productivity and collaboration software was born after the trio railed against “an enormous amount of wasted time” in list-keeping and business administration.
“We had already worked as a team, but weren’t used to what was a different way of working,” he told The Courier. “We’d get copied into hundreds of round-robin emails and you’d spend your life digging your way out of your inbox every morning.
“The other thing that really bugged us when we sat down at the end of 2012 what really riled us was that everyone’s jobs and tasks were recorded in spreadsheets. It was so inefficient.”
The trio came up with a “really easy to use”, cloud-based and constantly-updated system, useable on mobiles, tablets, laptops and desktops.
Allthings allows tasks to be classified, updated in real time and shared among workers without the need to trawl through a packed inbox, hard-to-follow email chain or needlessly complex spreadsheet.
Revenues are based on a subscription model, with users able to upgrade from a free, entry-level product to the pro edition and, from next month, team licences.
The service has already picked up 3,500 users since it made its debut around 10 months ago, and has also seen the launch of Android and iOS phone apps.
Nine new private investors have now come on board, taking a total equity stake of around 10%. The funding, combined with input from the Scottish Investment Bank, will support Allthings’ growth through to 2016, by which time the company expects to be turning a profit.
Its team of developers is to double to four this year, and is anticipated to reach 15 in two years’ time.
Scottish Investment Bank head Kerry Sharp said the organisation was pleased to support Allthings: “a forward-thinking company with an international mindset”.
She said: “The funds will assist the company to realise its ambitious growth strategies and deliver long-term results for both the local Tayside economy and the Scottish economy as a whole.”