When a company successfully closes a round of funding, it’s time to pop open the champagne. And then, it’s time to get to work.
The following two LA-based tech companies have recently experienced successful funding rounds and unprecedented interest and usage spikes due to COVID-19. In other words, the spotlight is on them to see what they do next.
While the pressure may stunt other startups, both whiteboard platform Miro and video game company Mythical Games are creating roadmaps to engage with customers and promote future growth. Steps include prioritizing and deploying new features, hiring more talent and stocking the wine fridge for the next big celebration.
What they do: Miro’s virtual whiteboard platform allows cross-functional teams to sync and stay creative in remote settings. To date, Miro has hosted brainstorm sessions, product roadmap meetings and Agile workflow processes for more than 5 million users.
Funding news: Miro raised $50 million in Series B funding in April 2020. The lead investor was Iconiq Capital, with participation from existing investor Accel and individual investors.
How they’re growing: As many offices transitioned to remote work due to COVID-19, employees quickly realized collaboration over standard videoconferencing wasn’t going to be enough. Miro's platform has video chat features, integrations with applications like Google Drive and Slack for seamless communication, and built-in and custom templates that allow teams to create flowcharts and plan projects..
According to an article in TechCrunch, Miro’s customer base includes more than 21,000 paying customers and 80 percent of the Fortune 100. Customers such as Netflix, Spotify, Expedia and more keep the company profitable.
Funding from the Series B round will primarily be driven toward hiring efforts. In April, Miro hired its 300th employee and hopes to add 150 more by the end of the year to keep up with product demand. Additionally, Miro will work to improve performance quality, enhance the user experience and deploy new features such as guest editors.
“The demand for Miro may have accelerated within the current situation when more teams are suddenly remote, but our momentum has been steadily growing, as more companies embrace distributed work as a competitive advantage,” CEO Andrey Khusid wrote in a blog post.
What they do: Mythical Games is a game technology studio that gives gamers ownership of digital assets. By integrating blockchain technology into the games, Mythical Games creates transparent and decentralized economies fueled by verifiable scarcity and integrated secondary markets. Their mission is to bring gamers, developers and content creators closer to the games they enjoy.
Funding news: In November 2019, Mythical Games raised $19 million in Series A funding. Investors included Javelin Venture Partners, Avon Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Hashed, among others.
How they’re growing: Fans of Mythical Games’ platform are eagerly anticipating the arrival of its first video game, Blankos Block Party. What separates Blankos from other online multiplayer free-to-play video games (think Fortnite) is users’ ability to buy, sell and make real money within the game using blockchain technology. It’s the first video game with a built-in economy.
The Mythical Games team is hoping for a late 2020 release for Blankos. They are using the overall $35 million in funding to actively hire more developers and appoint executive leadership and new board members.
“Growth will be measured by our partnerships, player base and community. Personally, I’m excited for us to put the pieces in place that will help us to scale as a healthy organization that puts its employees first,” COO Jeff Poffenbarger said in an article.
