The startup VOIDS from the University of Hamburg has set itself the task of creating a sustainable e-commerce ecosystem for everyone. It develops advanced technologies for e-commerce companies that enable them to proactively manage their future sales growth and profitability. Co-founder Jannik Semmelhack recently reported on a successful pre-seed financing round and the insights gained from it.
In April 2023, Jannik Semmelhack announced in our Startup Story that VOIDS plans to serve around 3,000 SME customers over the next few years. The two founders from Universität Hamburg have now taken an important step in this direction: they raised 600,000 euros in a successful pre-seed financing round. They were joined by well-known investors, angels and founders, supported by Index Ventures, Lakestar and Creandum. Jannik has now shared his insights from the fundraising process:
- Ask other founders for insights into fundraising as a shortcut: the response rate for cold calling was over 40 percent, and one of the people asked is now an angel investor at VOIDS.
- Your network is your superpower: Use second-level connections for warm introductions. VOIDS had a 30 percent conversion rate from first contact to first call.
- Keep committed investors in the loop: VOIDS lost two well-known investors because they could have been more transparent and provided more regular updates (once a week) on the progress of the round.
In the meantime, VOIDS has also expanded the team with industry experts, launched the first web app within 4 weeks and signed several +12-month contracts with new customers to take the next steps towards its vision: building a sustainable e-commerce ecosystem for all. “It’s about contributing to an e-commerce landscape where e-commerce D2C founders can scale their brands profitably, while customers worldwide benefit from a greater variety of products and a better shopping experience,” says Jannik in an earlier interview for our Startup Stories.
Jannik believes the start-up is well positioned for the future: “Last but not least, I am very lucky to have Tobias Wandersleb as my co-founder and friend. In addition to our great team, he is the driving force behind our solutions and has guided me through the entire fundraising process,” he concludes his post gratefully. But not without pointing out the newly advertised positions. Things are moving forward.
Further information on the VOIDS startup story: https://startupport.de/startup/voids/
