Eierfabrik

Feb 6, 2013

Charmaine Li6 February 2013 Alex Napetschnig donning a mankini for Klash Berlin-based challenges and dares app Klash , has today announced an updated version of its iOS app with a seed investment boost from Cologne-based Venista Ventures and Eierfabrik to the undisclosed tune of a “low six-digit euro sum”. The fresh funding, led by Venista , will give Klash financial breathing space after the then team of five kicked off its idea with a bootstrapping budget in January, 2012. Keeping their heads down since, with brief intervals of networking bouts, fountain forays and mankini escapades, the new version of their web and iPhone app now boasts animated GIFs and an improved interface to better share “completed Klash missions”. With a humorous, well-cut marketing campaign behind it (video below), Klash is branding itself as the go-to-app for “having more fun in everyday life”. With the motto: “you’re not born for boring”, Facebook users can dare their friends to do anything for a set reward. “It’s a good tool to get you out of your comfort zone… Funny ones have included a guy doing snow angels in boxer shorts and people planking on shopping trolleys. There was another guy who wore his pajamas for an entire week,” says co-founder Alex Napetschnig. The app also generates weekly missions where users can post up pics and loops to prove that tasks have been completed. Since launching in September last year, the app has received around 12,000 downloads, “but that doesn’t equal the number of users,” says Napetschnig, “we’re trying to make the core of Klash work. “It still feels like we haven’t accomplished anything yet…” “It still feels like we haven’t accomplished anything yet… what we have is a perfectly working product, but we’ve got the ideas to now develop it into something simpler and more engaging.” Question is: Will it work? There’s been a cluster of startups which haven’t quite managed to revive the “I dare you” game across social platforms, such AnteUp (now looking to release an iPhone app). Difference is, Klash is mobile with a clean working interface and a growing following on Facebook and Twitter. In relation to population size, Klash’s biggest user base is in the Netherlands, with Italy, Turkey and the US in close contention. When an Austrian, a Turk and an Italian “klashed” Napetschnig, together with co-founders Alessandro Pettrucciani (from Italy) and Baris Tamer (from Turkey) met while studying for their masters degree in Barcelona. Upon graduating, Napetschnig and Pettrucciani hit the waves surfing while Tamer stood idly by. “He (Tamer) never surfed before, so we dared him to try it out and after almost half an hour of watching him almost drown we thought ‘why are we the only ones that can see this’,” he laughs, “the outcomes of these ‘dare yous’ was something we wanted to share.” And so the idea of Klash was born, with a Swede, an Argentinian and a German added to the cultural mix. For related posts, check out: