TimeBridge

TimeBridge was a web-based software firm that provided a platform for coordinating meetings and managing online collaboration. Founded in 2005 by Yori Nelken and Tsachy Shacham, the company was established to streamline the scheduling process and reduce inefficiencies in professional settings. Nelken, a serial entrepreneur, previously founded Banter, a natural language processing company acquired by IBM, and served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Mayfield Fund before starting TimeBridge. The company secured a total of $18.3 million in funding from investors including Mayfield Fund and Norwest Venture Partners.

The core of TimeBridge's business was a personal scheduling assistant software that simplified arranging meetings, particularly with individuals outside of a user's own company. Its main product was a web application that allowed users to propose multiple potential meeting times to invitees via a single email. The platform would then aggregate the responses and automatically select the most suitable time, sending a confirmation to all participants. This service was designed to work across different time zones and integrated directly with major calendar systems like Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and Apple iCal. A key feature was that invitees did not need to register to respond, lowering the barrier to use. The business model initially offered a free service with plans to introduce premium paid features. The platform also included paid options for phone and web conferencing, agenda management, file sharing through an integration with Box, and automated meeting reminders via email and SMS.

Throughout its history, TimeBridge went through a series of acquisitions. In September 2010, it was acquired by the online local business network MerchantCircle. Subsequently, in June 2011, Reply! Inc. acquired MerchantCircle, bringing TimeBridge into its portfolio. The final acquisition occurred in July 2019, when the company was purchased by Calendar, which aimed to integrate TimeBridge's scheduling technology and features into its own productivity platform. Prior to its acquisitions, TimeBridge gained recognition with awards such as being named one of PC World's "101 Fantastic Freebies" in 2008 and a finalist in the 2009 "Webware 100" Awards.

Keywords: meeting scheduling, online collaboration, calendar management, scheduling assistant, time management software, meeting coordination, appointment scheduling, web conferencing, agenda management, cross-company scheduling, Outlook integration, Google Calendar integration, iCal sync, productivity tool, professional scheduling, TimeBridge, Yori Nelken, Tsachy Shacham, MerchantCircle acquisition, Calendar acquisition