Silicon Valley superstar investor Dave McClure has made his first investment in Germany by putting US$100,000 into compare-anything app Versus IO. The opinionated entrepreneur was clearly impressed by what he saw when he visited Berlin in September with the Geeks on a Plane.
That trip included a Pirate Summit event at the Factory, where Versus IO is currently based, and the new funding comes after the company raised €700,000 from HTGF and JMES Investments in April.
Versus IO enables users to compare any two things, with an initial focus on devices, e.g. iPhone 5 vs. Samsung S3. Now it is possible to compare not only products but services and cities, with people to follow soon. It uses a “sophisticated natural language algorithm and user interface styling” to present results in a simple-to-understand way.
The startup has notched up some impressive numbers since its launch six months ago – monthly visitors now top 2.5 million.
Ramin G. Far, CEO of Versus IO, said: “We’re extremely excited about the investment from Dave and the role he will play in helping to take VERSUS IO to the next level in terms of what we offer users and the direction of the business.”
McClure, who founded the 500 Startups accelerator, has also been involved in companies such as Simply Hired and Bit.ly. In an interview with Silicon Allee during trip to Europe this autumn, he praised the startup scene in the German capital, and said: “If London is Silicon Valley out here [in Europe] then Berlin is probably New York.”