Croatian startup Wasp secured €1.3M seed funding in a round led by Berlin-based deep-tech and seed-stage venture fund Lunar Ventures. Founded in 2020 by Croatian brothers Matija and Martin Sosic, Wasp enables developers to use a simple configuration language for building enterprise web apps with less code and best practices.
Wasp, or Web Application Specification, is in alpha stage and is an open-source tool that’s available for free to any developer, and according to the company so far around 300 apps have already been made using the tool.
“We often say that Wasp is “low-code for developers”, as we provide developers with language abstractions specific to web applications (eg authentication, routing, DB operations) that allow development to run faster and more securely”, Wasp’s co-founder Matija Sosic told Netokracija.
Before founding Wasp, the brothers were leading the engineering team of UK-based bioinformatics startup Lifebit. Their experience also includes founding TalkBook, a lead generation platform that helps presenters easily collect contact information from their live audience.
According to its founders, if a developer wants to build an app like Instacart, they need to know a dozen different technologies and how to make them work together. But with Wasp, the problem is solved while still letting developers use React, Node.js and other favorite tools.
“Open-source has long existed as a concept, but in recent years it has really become clear how powerful a tool it can be in promoting a project and addressing developers”, Sosic added.
The money from the funding will be used to add features, get to the beta stage and release the first version of the product.
“We’re very grateful to have joined forces with such a passionate group of people and are looking forward to building a streamlined web app development experience with Wasp”, Matija Sosic said.
The startup is also a part of US seed money startup accelerator Y Combinator Winter 2021 program, after having applied for the program three times.
According to Sosic, the biggest experience from being a part of this program was to understand how business models work and how to structure the company’s vision.
“From our experience, the greatest value of YC comes from the community of all startups and founders who have participated in the program so far – so we believe that YC currently provides greater value than ever before and that it will only continue to grow”, Sosic concluded.
