Flo’s aim is to create a service that improves everyday life. The app, which is released in a month, aims to unite calendars, to-do lists and e-mail – both work as well as private – to provide a better overview of a person’s to-do and tasks.

“The world does not need yet another calendar app. Your day consists of commitments which you get through many different means, be it SMS, email, Facebook or in person. The trick is to get it down in one interface and that is what our app does.” says Johan Gunnar, CEO, to 8till5.

Flo is approaching the classical to-do list in a whole new way, according to Johan:

“90 percent of the services that are available today are made of male engineers for male engineers – we try to take an entirely new approach. We have run a lot of user testing with both women and men. Men’s approach is that they wants to find the tools to be more productive, while women usually already perceive themselves to be productive but have a desire to get an overview over their days. The aim is to find a solution for both.”

The startup, which is part of the Minc incubator, was founded almost two years ago by Johan Gunnar and Sebastian Mutsson. Johan has a past as founder of Avail, which was acquired by RichRelevance in 2013.

Not the first investment

Already in June 2014 Flo raised a small round of € 240 000 from Almi Invest and the business profiles Lars-Erik Skjutare (former CEO of Sparbanken Öresund) and Christer Arvidsson (from Delvator). In addition to this 8till5 reports the startup has also raised € 75 000 in additional funding.

“With the early money we built a beta version of the app, and validated that the service works” says Johan

The current round of investment comes from the previous owners, as well as four new business angels. The new investors are Ulf Ljunggren (founder of Scandinavian Cosmetics and Inco Invest), Johan Andersson (Chairman of Vergic), Pia Althin (Pia Ståhl Foundation and investors including Newtoy which then was acquired by Zynga) and Lars Bruzelius (BSI and Partners ).

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Sydsvenskan reported that the transaction was completed last week, and the San Francisco based RichRelevance announced the news that Avail will bring 82 new clients, and extend their footprint deeper in the EU and into India and Australia.

Avail was founded in 2001 and lived on their own funding until 2006 when Stockholm-based private equity firm Scope became the owner. Last year Avail’s sales reach about €3.5 million (30 million SEK) and made a profit of €230000 (2 million SEK). About 80 percent of revenue comes from overseas customers.

Avail serves clients including brands such as Argos, La Redoute and Halens. The acquisition combines the Avail and RichRelevance client roster to create the undisputed global market leader in personalization for retail – and unifies the companies’ expertise to create the strongest partner to the retail community at a regional and international scale.

Together we are indisputably the greatest player in Europe and the US. In Europe we have 57 percent market share after the merger; our closest competitor has 15 percent, states Avail‘s CEO Pontus Kristiansson.

The company will now be renamed Rich Relevance, but the activity is retained in Malmö and will grow significantly in the near future from today’s approximately 20 employees.

‘Malmo is one of the three development centres along with San Francisco and New York, and we will invest in hiring more engineers. In a few years’ we will be at least double, and within a few more years, several times larger than today,’ says Kristiansson.

Avail’s technology personalises advertising on e-commerce sites. The technique is familiar from the ‘extra buy’ recommendations that pop up on sites when users search for products or add to cart.

‘The technology is based on behavioural data captured on e-commerce sites when visitors are there. Our platform then calculates in real time the banners every individual should be serviced with. The system gathers information from hundreds of millions of consumers over a 30-day cycle, but we handle it completely anonymously,’ assures Kristiansson.

For Rich Relevance the purchase means gaining an immediate presence in new countries, including Australia and India. The combined company ranks #1 for personalization in both the Internet Retailer 500 and Internet Retailer EU250, now with customers in 29 countries worldwide.

‘Global retail is undergoing a sea change, and there has never been a more exciting or interesting time to be in the retail sector. Tremendous shifts in consumer behavior have put pressure on retailers to adopt new high-impact strategies driven by technology, data and measurement. This acquisition rounds out our ability to support the complete topography of our retail partners’ needs in the EU and across the globe,’ says David Selinger, CEO of RichRelevance.

Selinger stated that Pontus and the entire Avail team are highly respected in the EU technology community, and are the leading experts in retail data-driven merchandising.

“As we continue to evolve our company to meet the needs of true global commerce, their perspective and insights will be invaluable for our business and our clients.” said Selinger.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and Scope Capital and Headwaters MB have acted as financial advisors to Avail prior to and during this transaction.

‘We see tremendous potential in the combination of the companies and look forward to contributing to this journey as shareholders of RichRelevance,’ said Andreas Ossmark Partner at Scope Capital.

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