Comparison platform VERSUS IO has closed a $2.8 million (€2.18m) Series A round led by Earlybird. The round includes the $100,000 from 500 Startups founder Dave McClure, who made the company his first German investment late last year, as well as contributions from angel investors Lars Dittrich and Dario Suter.
VERSUS IO, whose parent company is called URGE IO, has enjoyed substantial growth since its launch in July 2011, which came three months after it received €700,000 in seed funding from JMES Investments and HTGF. The platform allows users to compare consumer technology products such as smartphones and tablets as well as cities. The startup boasts of providing comparison results in a simple and clear format without an overload of information, “ultimately allowing consumers to digest complex product data quickly and efficiently.”
To achieve this, VERSUS IO uses a unique natural language algorithm and an intuitive user interface. The platform currently offers 25 million comparisons in 18 different languages and sees an average monthly traffic increase of 35 percent – currently at two million unique users.
Ramin G. Far, VERSUS IO CEO and founder, said: “We have worked very hard to build an amazing platform and, as a result, have experienced impressive growth and extremely positive feedback from our users. The closure of our Series A round is further evidence of the significant opportunities that are emerging in the comparison landscape.”
Earlybird co-founder and partner Christian Nagel said: “VERSUS IO’s exponential growth over the past year reflects a massive demand among consumers who want to make more informed purchase decisions.” Dave McClure, meanwhile, said: “VERSUS IO’s ability to take a sophisticated algorithm and make it so incredibly simple to use is one of the main reasons it caught me eye. … I’m predicting big things.”
To see off competition from the likes of diffen, future comparison verticals on VERSUS IO are to set to include people – think ‘Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates’ – real estate and even plastic surgeons. Currently resident in the Factory, Ramin and his team were among the startups who met German President Joachim Gauck on his visit to the future tech hub.