Typewise raises CHF 1.8 million in crowdfunding campaign

14.10.2021 11:55, Isabelle Mitchell

Typewise has raised CHF 1.8 million via the crowdfunding platform Seedrs. More than 650 investors supported the startup on its mission to decode human thoughts to improve lives. Typewise’s first product is a next-generation smartphone keyboard app that allows users to type faster, with four times fewer typos, superior AI autocorrect, and multi-language detection. Typewise is a Venture Leader Mobile 2021.

David, you and your team raised CHF 1.8 million from over 650 investors with a crowdfunding campaign (target: CHF 900,000). You actually raised more than CHF 1 million within the first 24 hours. How would you describe the experience? 
It was an intense but rewarding experience. We did quite a lot of preparation before the campaign started, as well as continued marketing activity during the length of the campaign, and it paid off. We smashed our target and got overfunded by almost 170%. We were delighted with the result because it reflects the high level of confidence in Typewise’s product and vision. It was especially satisfying to see so many of our own Typewise users investing in the round.

How will the CHF 1.8 million help you achieve Typewise’s vision? 
We will use the investment to grow the team and build and market our forthcoming B2B autocorrect and text prediction AI products, as well as continue to grow the user base of the Typewise smartphone keyboard, which has already been downloaded more than 1.5 million times.



What made you decide to raise funds through crowdfunding?
We knew we had a significant and loyal user base that would likely be interested in joining our growth story, so we thought crowdfunding would be a good way of tapping into that interest. We also knew that crowdfunding campaigns had worked well for other similar technology businesses, so we were keen to attract additional investors via the crowdfunding platform.

Would you do it again?
We would certainly consider using a crowdfunding campaign again because it is an effective way to mobilize your users as well as generate additional interest from angels and venture capital groups.

How did your employees, fellow entrepreneurs, and existing investors react to the crowdfunding approach?
The Typewise team was highly engaged with the approach and delighted with the result, which validates our product and is a sign of the high degree of confidence in our vision. My fellow entrepreneurs were very supportive throughout the campaign, helping to spread the word, and existing investors have also reacted very positively to both the crowdfunding approach as well as the result.

Do you think crowdfunding will become more important for Swiss startups?
The crowdfunding concept has been around for quite a while now; Seedrs—the crowdfunding platform we used—launched in 2012 and has been growing in popularity since then. The advantage of crowdfunding is that it provides a simple mechanism to get investment from your own user base, as well as providing an opportunity to reach new investors who may never have heard of your product.
So yes, I think it’s a great avenue for Swiss startups to explore as a method for fundraising, and indeed, several other Swiss companies have used Seedrs or other platforms for successful raises.

You attended the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with the Swiss National Startup Team. How has the Venture Leaders Mobile experience influenced the fundraising?
Especially the exchange with other founders of the Swiss National Startup Team gave us the courage to try equity crowdfunding and “to put us out there.”