Tech.eu, the European technology media and market research company, announced joining forces with Webrazzi, following its acquisition by the Turkish tech startup media firm. The deal is of an undisclosed amount. The innovation media partnership will combine the regional and local expertise of the two platforms to offer tech innovation news and market intelligence.
The Recursive looked at how each of these companies evolved independently, what prompted them to join forces, and what this means for the tech startup media ecosystem in Europe.
Two companies set to support the entrepreneurship ecosystem
Webrazzi was launched in August 2006 by Arda Kutsal with the purpose of developing an ecosystem focused on internet developments. It has since evolved into a media outlet that analyzes and reports on innovations in all things tech, especially digital technology, as well as among the only media in Turkey to focus on the entrepreneurship ecosystem. As Arda puts it, the local coverage on startups and investment opportunities was not substantial and fast enough at the time – and they set out to change that.
Two years later, the company was holding its very first conference where entrepreneurs, investors, and tech enthusiasts would meet to network, discuss the most important trends, and find potential partners to achieve their goals. In over four rounds between 2014-2020, Webrazzi raised more than $750K in funding. Fast-forwarding to 2020, Webrazzi managed to use its local and international conference experience to develop its own online conference platform and ride the new tailwinds set in motion by the global pandemic.
For Webrazzi, this seemed as the perfect timing to expand abroad.
Meanwhile, Tech.eu started its journey a bit later, in 2013, as Robin Wauters, an experienced journalist who had shaped his skills and passion for reporting on the European startup ecosystem at Tech Crunch and The Next Web, launched a little blog company. Together with a group of friends, set out to share news and analyses on the European startup and innovation ecosystem, targeting a global audience.
One year later, the company raised a €150K seed round from angel investors – a testimony of the potential of the European startup ecosystem and Tech.eu’s value-added services to the community. Today, the online publication delivers a wide range of editorial products, from curated news, to market intelligence reports, a network database, a job platform, and events. Tech.eu further reports a 17% average monthly increase in reach.
For Tech.eu, too, this proved to be a good time to get bolder with a partner by its side.
An innovation media partnership to keep pace with a booming tech startup ecosystem
One thing that surely catalyzed the partnership was the long-term professional connection between the two founders. After attending a Webrazzi Summit as a speaker, Robin Wauters remained in good contact with Arda Kutsal – to the point that he was recurrently on Arda’s list for potential partners at his company. Moreover, he actually wanted to invest in Tech.eu in its early life, yet missed the seed round.
As the European startup and innovation ecosystem continues to grow, the partnership aims to bring better visibility to increasing opportunities for funding, growth, and scaling.
With its acquisition, which started in February 2021 and was finalized this month, the Tech.eu team will expand, as well as benefit from new technologies such as Webrazzi’s online conference system, content management and event management systems, and native advertising solution. Robin Wauters will continue to manage the team. The goal is to accelerate growth in current markets, as well as open up to new ones, such as Russia and Turkey . On the other side, Webrazzi expects to continue supporting the growing tech startup scene in Turkey, as well as the larger European technology market.
