95% of European businesses - the 21 million so-called micro-enterprises with less than nine employees - have, so far, been neglected in the era of digitalization and automation. Considering these companies contribute more than €1.25 trillion to the European economy - almost 10% of Europe’s GDP - that is, in our opinion, a major lost opportunity! 

This is why we’re so proud to lead the €4m seed round in London-based Fuzey: the all-in-one messaging platform that centralizes communications, payments, marketing, and calendars for service-based SMEs such as plumbers, electricians, and mechanics.

‍For a long time, we’ve been asking ourselves: When will European SMEs stop working like in the 90s? Software solutions for small businesses got adopted in the United States a while back but in Europe, things are still standing still!

Well, until the pandemic hit. In-person meetings needed to be replaced with collaborative digital scheduling tools and online reviews became the only source for brand awareness and trust. It forced SMEs to accelerate their use of technology. This behavioral change became clear to us when we started to call plumbers and EV charge point installers, among others, who use Fuzey today. 

But even more important than timing and market-fit is the fact that Fuzey has been built by a stellar team. The co-founders Henrik Lysgaard Jensen 🇩🇰 and Alex Boyce 🇺🇸 are not only ambitious but they also have unique experiences in building high-growth businesses. Both of them started their careers in investment banking and management consulting but have since moved over to the good side (I’m of course referring to the startup world!). 

Henrik entered the tech ecosystem about a decade ago when he founded his own company, Drinkster; Europe's (at the time) largest online collective of social venues. Since then, he’s held key roles in several venture-backed companies including Tilt (acquired by AirBnB in 2017), Ubeeqo (acquired by Europcar in 2017), Bolt (a unicorn backed by Sequoia amongst others), and Lineten (raised +£15 million to date).

Before starting Fuzey, Alex spent time at Disperse, a Northzone-backed construction tech company, as their Global Head of Growth - and began his career scaling cleantech ventures across South Asia, the Middle East, and Silicon Valley with the Mahindra Group.

Beyond their unique experiences and skills in scaling fast-growing startups, Henrik and Alex have already shown how amazing they are at attracting top talent, such as Arsen Khadikov 🇺🇦: a senior engineering lead from Wise. 

In only one year, the Fuzey team has - with very limited funding - been able to build a must-have product, recruit a 10-person strong team, and onboard happy (and paying!) customers. 

Needless to say, we’re impressed and really excited to see what’s next in store for Fuzey!

We at byFounders are thrilled to be leading the seed round in Fuzey - with participation from Global Founders Capital, Ascension, and Flash Ventures - and I am very excited to join the board and work with the team as they build an iconic tool for service-based SMEs across Europe.

I’ll leave you with a heartwarming quote from Henrik about our partnership: 

“We instantly felt that a partnership with byFounders would make a strong match to our extremely high ambition to build a global and meaningful company. Alex and I have been impressed by the passion, authenticity, and energy levels showcased by the full team - an impression that quickly turned into full conviction that byFounders is the right fit for us at this stage of our journey. The hyper-transparency between us around challenges and needs also just makes everything easier for us as founders. ”‍

Looking forward to embarking on this journey with you and your team, Henrik and Alex 🚀 (And can't wait for the next byFounders <> Fuzey drinks in London!)

‍Read more about the product and team on TechCrunch here: https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/17/fuzey-takes-in-4-5m-to-charge-up-its-management-tools-for-service-based-businesses/