How Fleksy Raised $900k – Lessons from the Founder

This innovative smartphone app has been highly regarded as the solution to non-tactile texting by media outlets such as the Huffington Post, The Guardian, and Tech Crunch; users of the app have provided glowing reviews and a nearly perfect 5-star rating in the iTunes App Store.

Unlike other solutions in the market, Fleksy does not require users to accurately press buttons on a screen. Fleksy was originally developed with blind and visually impaired users in mind. Users can tap type anywhere on the screen, and the app will automatically detect the text they enter – even if they miss every single key. The technology is now coming to the mass market and is set to remove autocorrect frustrations for everyone. Using proprietary patent pending technology, Fleksy was created in-house from the ground up.

Below are a few anecdotes and tidbits of advice from Ioannis Verdelis, founder and COO of Flexy.

What problem does Fleksy solve?

Fleksy started from our own frustrations when using a touch screen device to type. It seems that as technology has progressed and touch-screens become more useful in a number of uses, the typing experience is still lacking compared to the hardware keyboard. We know many people who will wait until they go home to write that long email. And it shouldn't be that way.

In creating Fleksy, we set the bar really high. When I type this on my laptop, I rarely have to stare at the keys in order to be accurate. We set out to bring the same level of comfort and speed on the touch-screen. By creating groundbreaking technology designed specifically for a touch-screen, we have the solution for typing on touch screens, once and for all.

How important was the demo of product for investors?

Investors always need to distinguish between an idea and a product, a product and a business.

We only started fund raising as soon as we had a prototype of our technology in the market. We attracted a vertical market first, as a way to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology, and a way to show that users are interested in the technology we have been creating. We had incredible response by all aspects of the market, asking to make Fleksy available on their devices and applications. This helped with our fundraising.

How long have you been fundraising?

We began discussions with investors this fall (late Aug / early Sep) and just completed our round.

What will you do with the amount we raised?

We are looking to accelerate the development of our technology, so that it works cross platform, in multiple languages, and for the mass market. We are also looking to accelerate our business development process so that we can reach millions of users.

What aspect of Fundable do you like the most?

We discovered Fundable late into our funding process, but we loved the presentation of our pitch on the platform. I think it helps investors visualize the key elements, in a clean interface.