Decoding #MaddyMoney
21 January 2021
Unsplash © Ian Dooley

Online collaboration platform launches with £300K investment

With remote working becoming the norm for many over the past ten months, never has there been a bigger need for technology that streamlines online collaboration between individuals working apart.

Meeting this demand, digital collaboration platform gruup has launched with a fundraise of £ 300K led by Pitchdrive. Gruup was created to help teams to work better together wherever they are in the world. It was born out of the problems faced by remote individuals across the creative industries when working on joint projects. 

Independent research found that almost three out of four marketeers (71%) cited the inability to cooperate with others and lack of suitable tech as the major barriers to deliver meaningful work.

The platform enables individuals to bring together their digital work across various channels, including Office and Google Docs, Imagery, and online assets such as YouTube. Users are able to create personalised and dynamic presentations, saving hours of previously wasted time.

Pitchdrive, the European startup investment partner, led the round with private investors also involved.

Raising funds

Gruup was founded by the former PowWowNow CMO Simon Prince and Leed Collective CEO Darryll Bayes. It is already working with clients across the advertising industry including Truant, MMC and Republic of Media. The round of funding will be used to drive company growth in 2021, including marketing, tech development, and recruitment. 

On the investment, Prince said:

“We’re on a mission to change the way businesses share ideas. Today, more than ever, teams need help collaborating so that their impact isn’t diluted by PowerPoint and then lost in email or Slack. 

“In a new digital world, where the face-to-face continues to be an uncertain option, gruup is here to help businesses ensure their best ideas are shared, understood, and ultimately have the impact they deserve.”

Thomas Wilkinson, founder, Pitchdrive, said: “Gruup helps anyone wishing to collaborate, create, and present content online in times where we are all required to work apart.

“We selected gruup as our first revenue-generating startup investment because we firmly believe in its concept of powering unlimited creativity and their mission to be the number one software tool for the industry.”