Moped

Moped was a software company established in 2011, operating from Berlin with a focus on reinventing digital communication. The firm was brought to life by founder Schuyler Deerman, who would later go on to co-found the B2B fresh food supplier, Positive. Moped's core objective was to develop a private messaging platform from the ground up, providing an alternative to iterating on existing email systems.

The company's primary product was a cross-platform messaging application designed for small businesses, available on iOS, the web, and desktop. This service aimed to streamline team communication through features such as @-replies, integrated search functionality, hashtags for organization, and third-party file-sharing via a Dropbox integration. The business model revolved around providing a dedicated and feature-rich communication tool for professional teams.

In a significant milestone, Moped secured $1 million in seed funding in June 2012. The investment round was backed by a syndicate of prominent venture capital firms, including Earlybird Ventures, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, and Betaworks. This capital was instrumental in the app's development and market entry. The company's trajectory culminated in a technology acquisition by 6Wunderkinder, the developer of the popular task management application Wunderlist, on December 13, 2013. Following the acquisition of its source code and technical assets, the Moped messaging service was discontinued on December 31, 2013, with its real-time messaging technology being absorbed to enhance the functionality of the Wunderlist platform.

Keywords: Moped messaging, Schuyler Deerman, 6Wunderkinder acquisition, Wunderlist, Berlin startup, Earlybird Ventures, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, Betaworks, team communication, messaging platform, collaboration software, Dropbox integration, private messaging, cross-platform messaging, tech acquisition, communication app, small business tools, digital workspace