Tech.eu is the European-based tech startup website that Webrazzi has purchased. Tech.eu and Webrazzi will now be combined as a single entity, offering data and editorial platforms, along with research platforms that offer news and market information. The terms of the deal are not known.
Webrazzi was launched in 2006 by Arda Koutsal. It currently has 1.25 million readers per month (15 million per year). The acquisition of Tech.eu will allow it to expand its European and English-language reach.
Tech.eu was founded in 2013 by Robin Wauters (ex-TechCrunch writer) and has become a popular destination for European startup news and innovation news. However, it has been challenged by a variety of European-oriented outlets like EU Startups and Silicon Canals. The TechCrunchs European Bureau began its coverage in 2006.
500 Startups, Adeo Ressi (The Founder Institute), Roxanne Vaza (Station F), Daniel Waterhouse(Balderton), and Carlos Eduardo Espinal (“Seedcamp”) were among the Tech.eus investors.
Wauters said that part of the reason for the sale was the desire to own its own tech stack and custom CMS for managing native advertising campaigns. Webrazzi also has an events platform.
Webrazzi founder and CEO Arda Kutsal said that Tech.eu is a great source of market and technology news for Europe. We are impressed by the team's achievements to date and its solid plans for future growth. We look forward to working with them to make those dreams a reality.
Robin Wauters is the founding editor and managing Director of Tech.eu. He said, "I have long admired the work Arda and his team have done. I am excited to share the knowledge and experience that we have gained by building Tech.eu together as a team with the Webrazzi family to see where our combined editorial platforms can go." We are excited to continue reporting on and analysing the future of European technology ecosystems under the Webrazzi umbrella. It will be both more work and more fun, I expect!
He said that he wasn't looking for anyone to buy, but Arda had been in touch with me since 2014, when he wanted us to invest in the Seed round. We didn't meet, but we kept in touch and talked about our businesses.
It was difficult to compete because we didn't have a large sales team. Their contribution is, of course a team with 25 people that can be immediately tapped into. This was music to my ears, as there is a lot of competition in the media, data, and events sectors. He said that this acquisition will give us more power to accomplish our goals.
Is he a fan of the European media landscape?
The competition is normal, I believe. There will be many publications if you look at how the European tech ecosystem has developed and matured. We were probably a little too early. We did manage to make it through the first few years, even though it was small. It has matured to the point where one publication, which I believe is inadequate, cannot do it justice. Therefore, it is normal for there to be multiple publications, he stated.
I wanted to know if his investors pushed for an end. We raised about seven years ago so it's not like we were in constant contact with our investors the way a VC would with their portfolio companies. It was more like an angel group that supported us from the beginning. We weren't looking to sell, so nobody was pushing for a sale. Not even myself.
Kutsal said to me on a phone call: It's exciting. This has been a project we have been working on for eight to nine months. The pandemic made it difficult, but we were able to complete everything. Robin called me at the end 2020, as I had always wanted to see Europe in other regions.
He stated that Webrazzi's technology stack was key to the deal. Our own CMS content management system, online events platform, native advertising solutions, and all the rest are ours. Robin was an excellent team member, but he had no technology. This was a key factor in the deal.
He stated that the merged entity plans to expand in Europe, Russia and the MENA area.
