Veodin

Based in Berlin, Veodin carved a niche for itself by developing productivity-enhancing tools for Microsoft Office, specifically targeting professional service firms like management consultancies, banks, and auditors. The company was established in 2010 by Jan Mechtel, who served as its Founder and Managing Director. Mechtel's background, which includes roles at McKinsey & Company and Merrill Lynch, gave him firsthand insight into the significant amount of time professionals spent on tedious document formatting in the Microsoft Office suite. This experience directly informed the creation of Veodin's product line, aimed at automating these time-consuming tasks.

Veodin's business model centered on the sale of its software add-ins. Its flagship product, SlideProof, is an add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint designed to ensure presentations are flawless and professional. The tool functions by detecting visual inconsistencies within a slide deck, such as misaligned elements or incorrect color usage, and suggests corrections. SlideProof also includes features like a shared library for organizing presentation templates, slides, and shapes, and a one-click agenda creator that can be updated automatically. Another key product was KeyRocket, a smart trainer for learning keyboard shortcuts across the Microsoft Office suite and Windows. It supported over 1,700 shortcuts and allowed users to create their own.

The company's trajectory reached a significant milestone in August 2018 when it was acquired by Templafy, a Danish company specializing in enterprise template management and document creation platforms. The acquisition was a strategic move for Templafy, integrating Veodin's popular SlideProof tool into its broader platform to enhance its productivity offerings for enterprise clients. Following the acquisition, the Veodin team became Templafy's Berlin office, and Jan Mechtel transitioned to the role of Managing Director for Templafy's German entity, continuing to contribute his expertise in productivity tools.

Keywords: Veodin, Jan Mechtel, SlideProof, KeyRocket, PowerPoint add-in, Microsoft Office productivity, document creation tools, presentation software, consulting tools, Templafy acquisition, Berlin startup, professional services software, automation, visual consistency, shortcut trainer, document formatting, shared template library, productivity software, enterprise software solutions, audit tools, banking software