Every8D, the Taiwan-based startup behind enterprise chat software Team+, announced today it has closed a US$4.5 million series A funding round at a US$20 million valuation. The company names Joinsoon Electronics, a domestically-listed components maker, as one of several participants in the round.
Every8D originated as an app studio that counted local governments, taxi operators, and restaurants as its clients. But after years of developing communication software tailored for specific clients, last July the company released Team+, a free-to-use chat app for iOS, Android, and desktop browsers.
Team+ works much like one would expect – after registering, users can view a number of communication streams, chat individually with teammates, share files, allocate tasks, make announcements, and perform other work-related functions. The company also lets clients and developers make use of its API to add custom integrations and features.
During its nine months in app stores, Team+ claims to have accumulated over 200,000 users spread across 2,000 business in Taiwan. On its website, it counts ecommerce portal PCHome, convenience store chain Family Mart, drug store chain Watson, and the city’s metro as its clients.
Every8D says that it will use this funding to ramp up staffing and improve its product, as well as aid international expansion. Currently Team+ is available in simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and English.
When it comes to mobile messaging, Taiwan is Line country – the app has 17 million users in an island of 23 million inhabitants, and its advertisements pepper Taipei’s billboards and buses. It’s also common for employees to chat with each other in Line groups. Team+ doesn’t shy away from addressing its competition – users can invite one another through Line, and one slogan that often appears in Tea+’s ad copy translates to “More suitable for work chat than Line.”
Every8D’s funding marks the latest in a steady stream of respectable series A rounds for Taiwanese startups. Last week, ecommerce storefront maker 91App disclosed a US$9 million funding round. Image recognition startup Viscovery and restaurant booking startup EZTable each secured investments of about US$5 million.
There’s a plethora of enterprise chat apps on the market these days, the most high-profile of which is Slack, which famously climbed to a US$1 billion valuation eight months after its launch. But like consumer-facing chat, enterprise chat will almost certainly not be a winner-take-all race, as different businesses choose different products based on their needs.
Editing by Steven Millward, top image by koadmunkee
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