SMS Guru closes second financing round

August 24, 2009

SMS Guru has closed its second financing round with Wellington Partners and IBB.

Please see the press release (in German):

SMS Guru schließt zweite Finanzierungsrunde erfolgreich ab

Berlin, 24.08.2009 – Die SMS Guru GmbH bekommt frisches Kapital: Der von der IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft verwaltetet VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft Berlin und die VC-Gesellschaft Wellington Partners unterstützen die Fortsetzung des starken Wachstums.

In der ersten Finanzierungsrunde hatten sich neben Wellington Partners bereits strategische Business-Angels an dem Startup beteiligt. Die positive Geschäftsentwicklung und die weiteren Perspektiven der SMS Guru GmbH sorgten dafür, dass die IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft schnell vom Konzept des Wissensdienstes überzeugt werden konnte.

„Das SMS-Guru-Team besteht aus erfahrenen Brancheninsidern und hat bereits bewiesen, dass der SMS-Antwortdienst in der Zielgruppe ankommt. Durch die aktuelle Finanzierungsrunde wurden nun die Voraussetzungen dafür geschaffen, den Service national und perspektivisch auch international weiter auszurollen“, sagt Mischa Wetzel, Investment Manager bei der IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft.

Die SMS Guru GmbH beantwortet Fragen jeglicher Art, die Mobilfunk-Nutzer über den SMS Short-Code 37000 einreichen. Nach dem Credo „Wir beantworten jede Frage“ wird jede eingehende SMS individuell von einem Expertenteam recherchiert und persönlich innerhalb weniger Minuten beantwortet.

„Die bislang vorgelegte Erfolgsgeschichte von SMS Guru machte es uns leicht, das notwendige Wachstumskapital für die Fortsetzung der Story zu finden“, so Frederik Fleck, Gründer und Chairman von SMS Guru. „Wir haben jetzt hervorragende Mittel, unsere Technologien zu optimieren und die Marktführerschaft auszubauen.“

Das Team um Geschäftsführer Christian Vennemann setzt weiterhin auf strategische Partnerschaften mit TV-Sendern und anderen Medienunternehmen. „Wir wollen den Weg, den wir bislang sehr erfolgreich in Deutschland gegangen sind, auch auf andere europäische Märkte ausdehnen. Wir sehen noch immenses Potential sowohl im B2C-Segment, als auch in der Etablierung von White-Label-Solutions für Drittunternehmen“, sagt Vennemann.

Hinter SMS Guru stecken ein kleines aber schlagkräftiges Team am Standort Berlin und ein ganzes Netzwerk an Experten, den „Gurus“. „Für uns arbeiten echte Recherche-Meister, die Fachleute in der Nutzung unterschiedlichster Wissens-Quellen sind und Ergebnisse prägnant formulieren können“, begründet Frederik Fleck die Qualität und Themenbreite.

SMS Guru wurde bei dieser Finanzierungsrunde beraten von Corporate Finance Partners (www.cfpartners.com).

Frederik Fleck’s Portfolio: asgoodas.nu

July 28, 2009

asgoodas.nu is the easiest, fastest, and safest way to turn your used electronic gadgets into cash. Sell logo-asgoodas.nuthem online directly to asgoodas.nu in just a few simple steps and mail them in free of cost. A few days later the agreed amount will be paid into your account. You can be sure to get a fair deal as asgoodas.nu’s offer is based on a market value calculated from thousands of internet transactions daily, very much like a stock quote for every device.

asgoodas.nu tests and refurbishes the used gadgets and sells them in “as good as new” condition with a 12 months warranty. The margin comes from the markup consumers are willing to pay for a professionally refurbished device with warranty compared to a privately sold device.

Check it out at: www.asgoodas.nu

Frederik Fleck’s Portfolio: simfy

July 8, 2009

simfy is the market leader for online music solutions in Germany with more than 1 million users. simfyFounded in 2006 by students Christoph Lange and Steffen Wicker, simfy provided a price comparison for music downloads. Today simfy offers users unlimited access to more than 3 million tracks and allows them to create playlists and exchange them with friends. Simfy’s music technology is also used by numerous partners – such as piczo.com and spickmich.de.

Check it out at: www.simfy.de

Frederik Fleck’s Portfolio: gimigames

June 26, 2009

The online gaming market is changing with www.gimigames.com, the first massive multiplayer cash gimigames_logogame platform.
It’s about playing well known and easy games simultaneously against hundreds of players. You win real money if you are among the 50% of the fastest players, which means that you have to be better than the others.
For a start, the following three games are available: “Moneymemo”, a variation of the classic memory, “Wordsmilloinaire”, which is about finding words in a grid of letters and “Captain Math”, which tests your math skills. The developers were sensitively following the “brain jogging” trend, when choosing these games and assured to already have further games ready to publish.
The combination of friendly and well developed games, high transparency and the thrill when winning, is a success. At the moment, as a welcome-present, you get one euro real cash for free, which can be used right away in the games.

Frederik Fleck is an early business angel investor in the company.

Supporting Internetrepublik

June 1, 2009

Frederik Fleck is supporting www.internetrepublik.de !Internetrepublik

2009 is the big election year for Germany. Currently Germany has a coalition of the big two political parties: CDU and SPD. This brought innovation over the last four years almost to a standstill as all new legislation is so long watered down until both sides agree. This has to change!

Several German tech entrepreneurs are supporting Internetrepublik to give the young generation a voice and to assist tech innovations. Here is an excerpt of the agenda (in German):

In den letzten 15 Jahren hat sich die Welt gewandelt. Die Entwicklungen der Kommuniktationstechnologie verändern Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft fundamental. Die Chancen dieses Wandels werden von der Politik nicht erkannt. Statt in die Zukunft zu planen, klammert sich die Politik rückwärtsgewandt an alte und unvernünftige Technologien als Wachstumsmotor. Welche viel größeren Potenziale in ganz neuen Techniken steckt wird verkannt. Ob es um Arbeitsplätze oder um Wachstum geht – die Zukunft wird von der Kommunikatiostechnologie bestimmt sein. Gesellschaftlich kann das für den Einzelnen ein Gewinn sein, wenn die Politik endlich anfängt zu gestalten statt den Untergang zu verwalten. Schluss mit der Insolvenzverwaltung der Regierung, Deutschland ist ein zukunftsfähiges Land. Die Kreativität der Bürger dieser Internetrepublik zeigt sich in ihrem enormen Engagement bei Wikipedia, in den OpenSource-Entwicklungen und zeigt sich da, wo Internetunternehmer aus dem Nichts ganze Firmen mit hunderten Mitarbeitern gründen.

Die Internetrepublik fordert, dass der soziale Wandel, den das Internet und die mobilen Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten in der politischen Weichenstellung berücksichtig wird. Das Internet ist nicht der Hort von Kinderpornographie und Terrorzellen, wie Politiker gerne glauben und auch noch verkünden. Sondern das Internet ist in den letzten 15 Jahren zum sozialen Gerüst einer ganzen Generation und zu einem eigenen Wirtschaftssektor geworden.

Das Internet verändert die ganze Gesellschaft, ihre Struktur und besonders ihre eigene Kraft, die Stärke des Einzelnen. Aus diesem Grund muss das Internet in allen Politikbereichen Einzug erhalten. Die Kernbereiche, in denen das Internet positives bewirkt sind: Bildung, Arbeit und Umwelt nicht zu vergessen ist die demokratisierende Wirkung, die jedem Teilhabe ermöglicht und Transparenz erzeugt.

SMS Guru wins the Red Herring Award!

April 5, 2009

SMS Guru has won the Red Herring 100 Europe Award!SMS Guru Red Herring Winner

Press release from Red Herring:

Berlin, April 3rd, 2009 – Red Herring today announced that SMS Guru was named a WINNER of the Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region each year.

“During a difficult year, Red Herring still received an impressive list of submissions from companies across the EMEA region, clearly demonstrating Europe’s role as a major center of innovation in the global technology sector,” said Red Herring Managing Director, Farley Duvall. “The exceptional accomplishments of European technology startups and entrepreneurs are a testament to the rapid advancements being made in building the European innovation ecosystem.”

Red Herring’s lists of top private companies are an important part of the publication’s tradition of identifying new and innovative technology companies and entrepreneurs. Companies like Google, eBay, and Skype were spotted in their early days by Red Herring editors, and touted as leaders that would change the way we live and work.

Red Herring’s editorial staff rigorously evaluated several hundred private companies through a careful analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy, and dedication to research and development.

Red Herring has honored the Red Herring 100 Europe Finalist companies at its Red Herring Europe 2009 Conference, which was held March 31- April 2, at the Berlin Radisson Hotel. This intimate, 2 1/2 day event will explore how European firms are leading the charge in many technology sectors, gaining a competitive advantage, and driving entrepreneurial success in ways that create business opportunities for challengers and incumbents alike.

SMS Guru – Finalist in the Red Herring Contest

March 24, 2009

SMS Guru has been selected as a finalist for the Red Herring 100 Europe Award for 2009.europe_finalist5

Please see the SMS Guru press release below:

Berlin, March 25, 2009 – Red Herring today announced that SMS GURU was named a Finalist of Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region each year.

“This year’s impressive list of submissions from companies demonstrates Europe’s growing role as a major center of innovation in the global technology sector,” said Red Herring Publisher, Alex Vieux. “The exceptional accomplishments of European technology startups and entrepreneurs are a testament to the rapid advancements being made in building the European innovation ecosystem.”

“We are looking forward to the opportunity of speaking at the Red Herring event this year” says Frederik Fleck. “SMS Guru helps people find the right answers anytime, anywhere. Simply send a SMS with any question to 37000.”

Red Herring’s editorial staff rigorously evaluated several hundred private companies through a careful analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy, and dedication to research and development.

About SMS Guru
SMS Guru answers every question which is sent per text message to 37000, regardless whether the question deals with knowledge, sports, lifestyle, party or travel. An expert team researches every topic and sends the answer to the customers mobile in a few minutes. The business model based on SMS revenues and the founding team around Frederik Fleck, a pioneer of successful interactive business concepts in Europe, has convinced Wellington Partners as well as some well-known business angels to invest in SMS Guru.

Frederik Fleck’s Portfolio: ReputationDefender, Inc.

March 5, 2009

ReputationDefenderFounded in 2006, ReputationDefender is the global leader in end-to-end online privacy and reputation management solutions for consumers.

Its product suite, consisting of MyReputation, MyPrivacy, MyChild and MyEdge, focussed wolly on preserving the personal privacy and reputation of the company’s worldwide customer base, representing over 35 countries.

Frederik Fleck is an investor in ReputationDefender and accelerates the business development in Germany and Europe.

Frederik Fleck’s Portfolio: Luxury Fashion Trade GmbH

January 12, 2009

Fashionette wants to make Fashion Rental – especially the rental of designer accessories like handbags, jewelry and sunglasses – popular in Germany and Europe over the internet and allow fashion victims to wear designer fashion must haves more frequently than before. fashionette-logo

Fashionette is a brand of Luxury Fashion Trade GmbH which was founded in October 2008 by Dr. Sebastian Siebert and Dr. Fabio Labriola (with headquarter in Frankfurt). The target group of Fashionette is between 25 and 45 years old – most of the women belong to the up-and-coming middle-class. The fashion assortment will switch from „pure handbag rental“ to „one-size-fits-all rental“ in 2009 – beside selected young / innovative designers the company will mainly offer TOP-brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada etc.

Frederik Fleck is lead investor of Luxury Fashion Trade GmbH and helps the management team to set-up new sales-partnerships.

Frederik Fleck’s Portfolio: SMS Guru GmbH

August 28, 2008

SMS Guru answers every question which is sent per text message to 37000, regardless whether the question deals with knowledge, sports, lifestyle, party or travel. An expert team researches every topic and sends the answer to the customers mobile in a few minutes. The business model based on SMS revenues and the founding team around Frederik Fleck, a pioneer of successful interactive business concepts in Europe, has convinced Wellington Partners as well as some well-known business angels like Christiane zu Salm, board member of German publisher Hubert Burda Media, to invest in SMS Guru.


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.