Storyblok raises $2.5m investment from firstminute and 3VC

London, 28th November, 2019 - Austrian SaaS startup Storyblok secures $2.5m in funding from firstminute capital (backed by 30 Unicorn Founders, Tencent & Atomico), 3VC and Founders Factory. The investment is another milestone for the Austrian startup ecosystem after the $5bn IPO of Dynatrace in July on the New York Stock Exchange.

Press Release

Storyblok is a Headless Content Management System that provides developers with all the flexibility they need to build reliable and fast websites whilst giving content creators with no coding skills the ability to edit content independently of the developer. Thanks to the headless approach your content can not only be used for one website, which is the case if you use a monolithic CMS like WordPress which still powers ⅓ of the web. Storyblok empowers you to use your content on iOS and Android apps, as well as any other platform of choice (IoT, smartwatch, AR/VR) through Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”).

“The feedback and demand from customers are strong signals that we have built an excellent product. We can now further accelerate our growth with the support from firstminute, Founders Factory and 3VC” says Co-Founder and CEO Dominik Angerer.

The investment is another sign of the depth of talent coming out of the Austrian startup ecosystem. Last year ABB (NYSE: ABB) acquired B&R Industrial Automation for over $1bn. This summer Dynatrace IPO’d on the New York Stock Exchange at a $5bn valuation.

Peter Lasinger (Co-Founder & General Partner at 3VC) said: “There is amazing developer talent in Austria and more and more role models who demonstrate that it is possible to build market leaders and enduring companies in the region. It is this combination of being a melting pot in the center of Europe and a global-first attitude that fosters companies like Storyblok built by entrepreneurs like Dominik and Alex.”

"The startup landscape in Austria is picking up speed. Very few B2B startups are able to generate such significant revenues at such an early stage - however Storyblok is one of them. This is an exciting time for the local ecosystem." says Sok-Kheng Taing, Co-Founder of Dynatrace, angel investor and Chairwoman of the 3VC investment committee.

The concept of a headless CMS is not new, but Storyblok enables content creators to see live-updates while they are making changes to their content. Additionally, Storyblok ships with a component-based approach to content management enabling authors to build highly customized sites and layouts. Authors can add unique sections to their content if they need them without the need of a front-end developer.

firstminute capital, which is backed by 30 unicorn founders from Europe and the US, are co-leading the round and is their first investment in Austria. Brent Hoberman (Co-Founder & General Partner at firstminute capital and serial entrepreneur) said:

"The founders Dominik and Alex have built a vibrant community around the product amongst both developers and content creators. They have already succeeded in winning large enterprise contracts in Europe, the US and Asia. Given they have been bootstrapped to date, this is a great achievement. We are excited to partner with them in making this the default Headless CMS globally. "

Founders Factory - backed by leading corporates including Johnson & Johnson, Marks & Spencer, L'Oréal, easyJet, Guardian Media Group, Aviva, Holtzbrinck, CSC, Reckitt Benckiser, Aviva France, Standard Bank and Netcare - are also participating in the round.

About Storyblok

Storyblok (www.storyblok.com) is an Austrian based startup that offers a SaaS Content Management System with an API-first approach for developers. Storyblok provides content creators with an intuitive management interface that has the experience of a page-builder; Content is completely separate from the presentation layer and can be used across different channels. Storyblok was started and founded in 2017 by Alexander Feiglstorfer and Dominik Angerer in Linz.

About firstminute capital

firstminute capital is a $100m pan-European seed fund founded by Brent Hoberman and Spencer Crawley. It announced its first close of $60m to support the next wave of early stage European technology entrepreneurs in June 2017. The fund, which counts the London-based venture fund Atomico, the Chinese tech giant Tencent and the European FMCG conglomerate Henkel as institutional investors, along with 30 founders of billion dollar technology businesses, will look to invest between $0.5m – $2.5m in early stage technology businesses across Europe and the US.

About Founders Factory

Founders Factory powers founders to go further, faster. As the world’s leading startup studio and accelerator program, the Founders Factory team validates ideas, builds founding teams, finds first customers, and invests directly in startups across multiple disciplines. Started by Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox, and George Northcott. Founders Factory has received investment from leading corporates across four hubs in New York, London, Paris, and Johannesburg: Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (New York); Marks & Spencer, L'Oréal, easyJet, Guardian Media Group, Aviva, Holtzbrinck, CSC and Reckitt Benckiser (London); Aviva France (Paris); and Standard Bank and Netcare (Johannesburg). Founders Factory has built over 40 and invested in over 100 startups to date and secured over 200 commercial pilots for its startups with 33% of those pilots resulting in enterprise contracts and direct investments. Founders Factory peers voted it as Hottest Startup Accelerator and Early Stage Investor at The Europas 2018 and 2019.