Company Profile: airfocus

Background

Overview

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, airfocus is a leading provider of modular product management software. The company offers a flexible platform designed to assist product teams in prioritizing projects, creating dynamic roadmaps, and aligning strategic objectives. By integrating with popular tools such as Jira, Trello, and Asana, airfocus enables seamless collaboration across diverse workflows. The platform is trusted by over 800 companies worldwide, including notable clients like Caterpillar, The Washington Post, and Orange.

Mission and Vision

airfocus aims to empower businesses to make better decisions by providing a unified Product Operating System (Product OS). This vision focuses on enhancing product management processes, enabling teams to build the right products faster and more efficiently.

Key Strategic Focus

Core Objectives

• Flexibility-First Approach: airfocus emphasizes adaptability, allowing teams to customize the platform to fit their unique workflows and requirements.

• Unified Product Management: The company strives to provide a single source of truth for product organizations, integrating various aspects of product management into one cohesive system.

Areas of Specialization

• Roadmapping: Creating tailored roadmaps for products and teams, with custom views for diverse audiences.

• Prioritization: Aligning stakeholder inputs to make informed decisions and build products that meet market needs.

• Feedback and Insights: Centralizing customer feedback to uncover insights and address the right problems.

• Objectives and Key Results (OKRs): Interconnecting OKRs with roadmaps and product workflows to drive team alignment.

• Capacity Planning: Managing resources effectively by planning scenarios aligned with priorities and product strategy.

Key Technologies Utilized

• AI-Assisted Platform: Leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance decision-making processes and provide actionable insights.

• Integrations: Seamless integration with tools like Jira, Trello, GitHub, Slack, and Intercom to fit into existing workflows.

Primary Markets Targeted

airfocus serves a global market, catering to enterprises and small businesses across various industries that require efficient product management solutions.

Financials and Funding

Funding History

• Pre-Seed Round (May 2019): Raised an undisclosed amount from Picea Capital and business angels.

• Seed Round (November 2019): Secured €1.7 million from Nauta Capital.

• Series A (June 2021): Raised $5 million led by XAnge, with participation from Nauta Capital.

• Series B (January 2024): Closed a $7.5 million round led by Newion, with participation from XAnge, Nauta Capital, Riverside Acceleration Capital, and Picea Capital.

Total Funds Raised

Approximately $15 million as of January 2024.

Notable Investors

• Newion: Led the Series B round, emphasizing the importance of airfocus' flexibility-first approach for enterprises undergoing digital transformation.

• XAnge: Led the Series A round, recognizing the significant pain points in product development prioritization that airfocus addresses.

• Nauta Capital: Participated in multiple funding rounds, supporting airfocus' growth and global reach.

Utilization of Capital

The funds have been allocated to:

• Product Enhancement: Developing a unified Product Operating System and integrating AI-assisted features to transform product management workflows.

• Global Expansion: Extending market outreach and attracting top industry talent to support growth plans.

• Team Growth: Tripling the team across all functions to support the company's expansion and product development initiatives.

Technological Platform and Innovation

Proprietary Technologies

• Modular Product Management Tool: airfocus offers a unique, flexible end-to-end platform that addresses core enterprise challenges like roadmapping, prioritization, customer insights, and OKR alignment.

Significant Scientific Methods

• AI-Assisted Decision-Making: Utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance decision-making processes, making them more efficient and impactful.

Leadership Team

• Malte Scholz: Co-founder and CEO. Passionate product entrepreneur with deep knowledge in implementing business ideas and developing SaaS and mobile technologies. Malte has been instrumental in crafting airfocus' vision of a unified Product Operating System.

• Christian Hoffmeister: Co-founder and CTO. Christian brings technical expertise to the team, focusing on developing and enhancing the airfocus platform to meet the evolving needs of product teams.

• Valentin Firak: Co-founder and CMO. Valentin leverages his marketing expertise to drive airfocus' growth and global reach, ensuring the platform resonates with its target audience.

Competitor Profile

Market Insights and Dynamics

The product management software market is experiencing significant growth, driven by the increasing need for efficient product development processes and the adoption of agile methodologies. Gartner reports that 80% of organizations are now adopting the product management operating model.