Betaworks

Betaworks is a New York-based startup studio, accelerator, and ecosystem builder that creates, funds, and scales technology companies. Founded in 2008, it operates an accelerator program and supports early-stage ventures across information technology, software as a service, gaming, e-sports, and frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality. Betaworks also runs Betaworks Studios, a New York City membership space that enables collaboration, mentorship, events, work sessions, and company-building activity within its network. Through Betaworks Ventures, the firm maintains a product-focused seed investment arm with a presence in New York and San Francisco, having invested in more than 150 companies.

Joshua Auerbach

Venture Partner

Neel Baronia

Associate

John Borthwick

CEO and Founder

Jordan Crook

Partner

Jason Morrow

Partner

Nicole Ripka

Associate

Past deals in Messaging

Ghost Message

Seed Round in 2023
Ghost Message enables users to send an anonymous message to pals in a group chat to flirt, make jokes, or pose queries.

With Labs

Seed Round in 2021
With Labs is a developer of a remote working platform that facilitates seamless communication and collaboration among team members. The platform allows users to stay connected with colleagues, friends, and family throughout the day, offering a range of features such as team links, stand-up meetings, content frames, screen sharing, and file sharing. These tools enable effective communication, whether in one-on-one interactions or small group settings, enhancing the overall team collaboration experience.

Yac

Seed Round in 2020
Yac, established in 2019 and based in Kissimmee, Florida, specializes in developing an online application for remote team communication. Its core product is an asynchronous messaging platform that facilitates short-form voice messages, screen sharing, and team meetings, allowing distributed teams to stay connected and productive without the need for real-time meetings or scheduling.

Squad

Seed Round in 2019
Squad is a San Francisco-based company that offers a web-based platform designed to facilitate social interaction among users. The platform allows friends to connect and spend time together by enabling video and audio chats while sharing their screens. Users can showcase various content from their devices, including messages and videos from apps like TikTok, creating an immersive shared experience. Additionally, Squad features an AMA (ask me anything) function, which aggregates information from various online profiles, making it easily accessible in one central location. This blend of social engagement and information sharing positions Squad as a versatile tool for enhancing digital interactions.

Yac

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Yac, established in 2019 and based in Kissimmee, Florida, specializes in developing an online application for remote team communication. Its core product is an asynchronous messaging platform that facilitates short-form voice messages, screen sharing, and team meetings, allowing distributed teams to stay connected and productive without the need for real-time meetings or scheduling.

Guestfriend

Seed Round in 2018
Guestfriend is a technology company specializing in AI-powered chatbots tailored for the restaurant industry. Their primary service is a personalized chatbot that instantly responds to guests' queries on various platforms such as websites, Facebook, and SMS. Guestfriend differentiates itself by automatically creating these chatbots based on information already available online about restaurants, eliminating the need for owners or employees to manually design conversational flows. The company's mission is to facilitate small business growth by actively engaging with customers in real-time through messaging, aligning with consumers' preferred communication methods. Guestfriend's chatbot service works across multiple platforms including SMS, Facebook, Twitter, and Google search results, with plans to expand support for speech platforms like Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

Shine

Series A in 2018
Shine is a developer of a self-care communication application designed to make well-being accessible. Their application is a messaging bot that gives out life advice and positive reinforcements including actionable tips based on confidence, daily happiness, mental health, productivity, and self-care audio challenges to grow on the go through sms texts on a daily basis, enabling people with anxiety and depression to get career and life advice to take proper care of themselves.

Squad

Seed Round in 2018
Squad is a San Francisco-based company that offers a web-based platform designed to facilitate social interaction among users. The platform allows friends to connect and spend time together by enabling video and audio chats while sharing their screens. Users can showcase various content from their devices, including messages and videos from apps like TikTok, creating an immersive shared experience. Additionally, Squad features an AMA (ask me anything) function, which aggregates information from various online profiles, making it easily accessible in one central location. This blend of social engagement and information sharing positions Squad as a versatile tool for enhancing digital interactions.

MojiLaLa

Seed Round in 2017
MojiLaLa, Inc. is a mobile application company based in Claymont, Delaware, founded in 2016. The company operates an emoji marketplace that connects independent artists and studios worldwide, enabling them to create and share unique stickers and emoticons. This platform enhances personal communication by allowing users to express a wide range of emotions and ideas through high-quality, creative designs. In addition to its core offerings, MojiLaLa has developed a keyboard application that provides users with access to various emoticons and stickers reflecting local, current, and global issues. The company also features an augmented reality application named Leo, which allows users to interact with animated and 3D objects in real-world settings. By continually adding new original designs from artists, MojiLaLa aims to enrich user experiences and foster creative expression in digital communication.

Shine

Seed Round in 2017
Shine is a developer of a self-care communication application designed to make well-being accessible. Their application is a messaging bot that gives out life advice and positive reinforcements including actionable tips based on confidence, daily happiness, mental health, productivity, and self-care audio challenges to grow on the go through sms texts on a daily basis, enabling people with anxiety and depression to get career and life advice to take proper care of themselves.

Dexter

Seed Round in 2016
Dexter, Inc. is a technology company that has developed a platform enabling users to create meaningful automated conversations through chat-bots. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in New York, Dexter allows users to focus on crafting dialogue while simplifying the integration of various services across the web. The platform features a tailored editor for writing, editing, and testing interactions, and it supports connections to third-party natural language processing services and APIs. Through its offerings, Dexter empowers users to launch chat-bots and automate tasks by leveraging JavaScript modules contributed by the development community, enhancing the functionality and versatility of applications across different social messaging platforms.

Poncho

Seed Round in 2016
Poncho Inc. is a New York-based company that specializes in providing personalized weather forecasts through its application, emails, and text messages across the continental United States. Founded in 2014, Poncho has developed a popular chatbot on Facebook Messenger and ranks among the leading weather apps in the App Store. The company not only delivers weather updates but also offers travel reports, enhancing the user experience with engaging content. As of May 2018, Poncho operates as a subsidiary of Dirty Lemon Beverages, LLC, leveraging advanced bot technologies to reach its audience on various messaging and hardware platforms.

Beep

Seed Round in 2016
Beep is a fully loaded chat app for the younger generation that allows you to add creativity and fun to your voice messages.

Tapslash

Seed Round in 2015
Tapslash is a mobile keyboard application designed for iPhone and iPad that enhances communication by allowing users to share various types of content, including videos, links, news articles, music, and maps, directly from their keyboard without the need to switch between applications. The innovative keyboard connects seamlessly with popular platforms such as Giphy, Spotify, and YouTube, facilitating the sharing of rich media and contextual information. By integrating with services like Contacts and Weather, Tapslash enables users to access a broader range of information while chatting. The company's goal is not only to improve the speed of communication but to increase the effectiveness of idea sharing, allowing users to transition quickly from concept to action.

Sochat

Seed Round in 2015
Sochat is an iOS and Android mobile messaging application and connection platform. It allows its users to publish groups nearby with a PIN to quickly gather up and share GIFs, photos, videos, disappearing messages, and drawings among its users. It also allows sending songs and YouTube videos, play rock paper scissors game, and poll friends and groups. Sochat is a U.S.-based company that was founded in 2014 by Lukens Orthwein.

Howdy

Seed Round in 2015
Howdy believes Slack is the operating system for a new class of helpful bots. Howdy works along side you at work and participates in the day to day activities of your company as an active member of the team.

FutureFly

Seed Round in 2015
FutureFly Ltd. is a mobile application development company based in Helsinki, Finland, founded in 2014. The company specializes in creating innovative entertainment and gaming software that leverages augmented reality and social technology. With a team boasting over 100 years of combined experience in game and app development, FutureFly has contributed to the creation of popular titles such as Angry Birds and Alan Wake. Their flagship products include Rawr Messenger, an avatar-powered messaging app that enhances communication through animated emojis, and Dubface, a 3D animated augmented reality sticker application. FutureFly focuses on integrating game mechanics with user-generated avatars, allowing individuals to engage in virtual reality-based games and social experiences.

Dasher

Seed Round in 2015
Dasher is a messaging platform founded in 2013 and headquartered in the United States. The company's application focuses on enhancing communication among users by offering a variety of features, including live location sharing, map sharing, GIFs, and photos. It also enables users to conduct polls within their groups and delete messages after sending them. Additionally, Dasher integrates peer-to-peer payments through a partnership with Venmo, allowing seamless financial transactions among users. The platform is designed to keep individuals connected with friends and family while providing an array of interactive tools to enrich their social experience.

Grape

Seed Round in 2015
ChatGrape is a multi-device application (smartphone, tablet, browser and desktop) that combines team and corporate communication and makes it more efficient compared to conventional emails.

Yo

Seed Round in 2014
Yo is a mobile communication application that offers a straightforward and efficient single-tap zero character communication tool. This application allows users to connect easily by sending notifications from their favorite brands and enables them to inform their Instagram followers about new posts. Additionally, Yo facilitates the sharing of event notifications and location details with friends using just two taps. By simplifying communication, Yo aims to enhance user interactions in a fast-paced digital environment.

Context app

Angel Round in 2013
Context is a simple, fun way to text your close friends and family with photos. Compose text messages like you are used to, and Context will attach a photo of you or your surrounding to your message. Create group messages with your friends, and see what everyone is up to!

Koa.la

Series A in 2013
Koala develops a photo-sharing application which can be integrated into smartphone messenger. Koala was formerly known as Albumatic Inc. and changed its name to Koala in November 2013. It was founded in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Moped

Venture Round in 2012
Moped is a messaging application designed to facilitate communication for users on both desktop and mobile devices. Launched in Berlin, Germany, the platform allows users to send messages and integrates seamlessly with various web services, enhancing its functionality. It caters to small businesses by providing tools that streamline communication, making it easier for teams to collaborate. In December 2013, Moped was acquired by 6Wunderkinder, further expanding its reach and capabilities in the messaging space.

Highlight

Seed Round in 2012
Highlight is a mobile application designed to facilitate social connections among users in their vicinity. The app notifies users when they are in close proximity to others who share mutual friends or interests on Facebook, allowing for potential interactions. Users receive push notifications when they come within a few blocks of these individuals, enabling them to message each other. The app's homescreen features a reverse chronological list of people the user has encountered, enhancing the experience of discovering and engaging with nearby acquaintances. Highlight aims to foster a sense of community and connection in urban environments by leveraging social media networks.

GroupMe

Series B in 2011
GroupMe Inc. is a New York-based company that develops and operates a group messaging application designed to facilitate communication among users, including those without smartphones. Launched in 2010, the platform allows users to easily connect with friends, family, and coworkers through push notifications or SMS. GroupMe's services include group messaging, conference calling, and location and photo sharing, enabling seamless interaction within social networks. Since its inception, the company has experienced significant growth, processing billions of messages and expanding its team to 25 employees. Acquired by Skype Global, GroupMe operates with a degree of autonomy, maintaining an entrepreneurial culture while aiming to become a primary communications provider for a large user base.

TweetDeck

Series B in 2010
TweetDeck is a Twitter client designed for desktop, web, and mobile devices, originally developed as an Adobe AIR application. It features a unique columned user interface that allows users to monitor multiple Twitter feeds in a concise and organized manner. This functionality enables users to categorize their main feed into specific topics or groups, providing a broader overview of tweets. In 2011, TweetDeck was acquired by Twitter, which subsequently rebuilt the application using HTML5 technology. The platform integrates various services, enhancing the user experience by allowing real-time monitoring of information from multiple sources.

TweetDeck

Seed Round in 2009
TweetDeck is a Twitter client designed for desktop, web, and mobile devices, originally developed as an Adobe AIR application. It features a unique columned user interface that allows users to monitor multiple Twitter feeds in a concise and organized manner. This functionality enables users to categorize their main feed into specific topics or groups, providing a broader overview of tweets. In 2011, TweetDeck was acquired by Twitter, which subsequently rebuilt the application using HTML5 technology. The platform integrates various services, enhancing the user experience by allowing real-time monitoring of information from multiple sources.
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