Investment Company Digital Future invests $350k in Replyapp.io, an instrument for sending the “cold” emails. WannaBiz joins the offer with $50k.
Replyapp.io is the system that enables the automation of the personalized emails. Every letter sent through the system looks like it was written in person, and not by the regular email robot.
Replyapp.io is designed for the sales managers to be used for sending the so-called “cold” emails (when reaching out to the client for the first time). Also, the system can automate the process of sending the “warm” emails (when there is a dialogue with the client).
“In the past six months, our sales increased by 30-50% per month. While we were at the interview with 500 Startup and Y Combinator, we could continue to grow on the revenue generated from the clients. Right now, our market is very hot and competitive, that is why, if we want to retain our positions, we need to work 10 times faster. It would not be wise to wait for our revenue to rise, so that we expand without the investments, on our own,” says the founder of Replyapp.io Oleg Belozor.
CEO of Digital Future, Oleksii Vitchenko told that it was that rare occasion when the investor got interested in the startup, and not vice versa.
“We quickly understood the value of this startup, after our portfolio companies The App Solutions (development of mobile apps) and Digital Bee (digital marketing agency) have battle tested this service. We understood that the service works better than the similar services in this niche. This instrument gave us the opportunity to automate the work our sellers. The improvement came in the outbound-sales when the potential client knows nothing about the seller, as well as in the inbound-sales when we communicate with the clients that left the contact information on the website,” explained Oleksii Vitchenko.
“B2B sector is now going through the repetition of the cycle. Inbound-marketing, which came into place instead of the “cold” calls, is not so popular now, because the Internet is oversaturated with the content, and the competition in the inbound only grows. Right now, the direct sales supersede the inbound-marketing. Targeted personal emails provide an opportunity to build a stable and predictable sales funnel, and consequently, increase the sales several times,” said Oleg Belozor.
According to Oleksii Vitchenko, Digital Future presented the investment proposal over a year ago, but at that time, Oleg Belozor had no vision on how this money can help with the development of business, therefore, the decision not to hurry. However, after the SaaStr conference in San Francisco, Oleg understood the best way to utilize the investment to speed up the growth process.
While at the Silicon Valley, Oleg was acquainted with Artem Borodatiuk, the cofounder of WannaBiz.
“We talked a lot with Oleg on the development of SaaS-products,” comments Artem Borodatiuk, “I like his ambitions, attention to details, and focus on business development. Besides, the project fit our strict criteria: the quick growth of MRR, focus on the USA, etc. That is why we joined efforts on this deal. The check in not that big, only $50k, but the value of this deal is that three founders of WannaBiz are experienced entrepreneurs.”
The investments will be directed at expanding the sales, marketing, and product development.
“We believe in these guys so much, that we offered more money than they originally asked for, not $200-250k, but $400k. We believe that they need to grow faster, because the competitiveness levels increase in the US, and they need the time to hop on the train,” said Oleksii Vitchenko.
Digital Future invests not just money, but the Smart Money. In the case of the Replyapp.io, this will be the expertise in product biz dev, marketing, and recommendations from the users of the service.
“We have the experience in building the product driven campaigns, and we know how to boost the sales,” said Oleksii.
Digital Future (www.digital-future.org) – is an investment company, which funds the startups from Eastern and Central Europe with the Smart Money. Founded in 2014. Oleksii Vitchenko is the CEO, with the years of experience as the serial entrepreneur.
WannaBiz (www.wannabiz.com.ua) – is a fund oriented on the projects that have passed the Seed funding stage, with the focus on Western markets, and with the steady revenue raise. Sphere of interests includes adtech and b2b SaaS. Three entrepreneurs, Vadim Rogovskyi, Aleksandr Borniakov and Artem Borodatiuk, founded Wannabiz.
Replyapp.io (http://replyapp.io) – is a service for the sales managers aimed at automation of “cold” emails. Founded in August of 2014, the first release happened in June 2015. Oleg Belozor is the founder.