Copenhagen-based Ge.tt has raised 350,000 euro ($457,400) from venture capital firm Atomico. Ge.tt is the maker of a browser-based file transfer service. The company will use the cash to add to its staff.
PRESS RELEASE
Ge.tt, the simple browser-based file transfer service today announced €350,000 of investment funding from Atomico, the international venture capital firm.
The investment followed an entrepreneurship competition organised by Venture Cup in Denmark, which the company won. Mattias Ljungman, Partner at Atomico, was serving as a judge in the competition while visiting the country as part of Atomico’s Open Office programme, whereby the firm visits cities around the world. This led to a small seed investment, and then a later investment together totalling €350,000.
Ge.tt is designed as the easiest-to-use file-transfer service in the world. Rather than email files, which can be difficult with large files, users can use Ge.tt to store and transfer them simply and easily to as many recipients as they choose.
Its ease of use also means that Ge.tt provides users with a brilliant stepping stone to the benefits of cloud computing. Files can be downloaded while they are being uploaded, users are able to easily copy a link to the file, or send as email directly from Ge.tt. And there is no requirement to sign up or install any software, making it as simple and as fast as possible.
The investment is allowing Ge.tt to make new hires. The team now consists of four developers, including the two founders, and a designer. It recently released an API that allows developers to create plugins for Ge.tt, or use it in their own applications. This feature was widely requested, and many developers who asked for it have already finished some of their first projects using it.
Ge.tt is also announcing changes to its customer offering, in response to user demand. Many users wanted long-term storage, and users will now have their files stored as long as they have an account.
To make the business sustainable, however, storage limits are being introduced. Most users will continue to use the service for free because the limits are high, but those requiring larger amounts of storage, such as professional users, will pay a small fee. This will help provide a long-term future for Ge.tt which has been used by more than 425,000 people across the world since launching in November 2010.
The new usage tiers for Ge.tt are simple. Without an account users get 250MB of storage. By spending a few seconds to create an account, users receive 2GB of free storage, which is high enough that most people won’t pay anything. Most users of Ge.tt use less than 2GB, and will simply enjoy an improved, free service with long-term storage.
Users who want more storage, such as professional users or people with large file requirements, will pay small, tiered fees. For $5 a month they get 5GB, for $10 they get 40GB and for $20 they get 100GB.
Tobias Baunbæk, CEO and Co-Founder of Ge.tt, said: “Both the investment we have received, and the introduction of our premium service will help Ge.tt continue to serve our growing number of users across the world. We set out to make file transfer simple and easy, and today’s announcements will help it stay that way.”
Mattias Ljungman, Partner at Atomico, said: “Ge.tt is a great business, and it was brilliant to find it unexpectedly in Copenhagen. It’s incredibly easy to use, and once you start using it, you soon realise the benefits it brings. The company already has users across the world, and it’s easy to see why. It has great founders who have a real focus on the user experience, and a big opportunity in front of it.”
Ge.tt was founded by Tobias Baunbæk and Mathias Buus Madsen who came up with the idea while studying computer science at Aarhus University. They and classmates often needed to share files with many people on different platforms, and often resorted to using USB sticks. Although there were file-transfer services, none suited their needs. Required signups, installations, and no streaming were all factors weighing in.
They realised that a combination of streaming technologies and an intelligent queuing system would make for a much faster and simpler technology. And that this could be done in a browser, with no software installation. They created a prototype, entered the Danish startup competition Venture Cup, and won €6,700. This bootstrapped the company, and the founders left university to focus full time on it.
To give the service an advantage in the file-transfer market, the team developed a new technology that makes transfer much faster, and combined it with a clean interface to make the experience as easy as possible. This has led to a rapid growth in use of the service.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Ge.tt
Ge.tt was formed October 2010, and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is designed as the easiest-to-use file-transfer service in the world. Its unique real-time file-transfer technology allows users to share several files in a second, even several large videos. This makes it the fastest way to share files today. Users aren’t required to install any software or even register to use the service, and it is easy to use, even for a first-time user. For more information, or to try the service, please visit: http://ge.tt
About Atomico
Atomico is a leading international venture capital firm formed in 2006 by Niklas Zennström, a successful serial-entrepreneur and co-founder of Skype, Kazaa and other companies. Atomico seeks to deliver outsized returns to investors by being the partner, and investor of choice, for fast-growing technology companies that will become global category winners. It has so far invested in more than 50 companies on four continents. Atomico is headquartered in London with offices in São Paulo and Beijing.
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