LIFT99 raised investment round for a platform to grow more unicorn startups from CEE

Taizo Son, the Founder of Mistletoe and of Japanese mobile gaming company GungHo leads an investment round of $2,3 Mil to develop a skillsharing platform from founders to founders that will transform the way startup entrepreneurs share their expertise and learn. "We love how LIFT99 is creating the startup community conscientiously and believe it makes a huge impact on the startup community in the Central Eastern Europe,” says Son.

The driving force behind LIFT99 Skillsharing Platform is Ragnar Sass, serial entrepreneur, investor, and Co-Founder of Pipedrive and Garage48 Foundation. “We see immense potential and lots of talent in the CEE region but there is no uniting ecosystem, the localization of know-how and key networks is holding back unified development across the region. Well, what if we could bring that expertise online? A global software for this could have a huge impact,” says Sass.

Located in Estonia, LIFT99 is in an unique position to build an online community of influencers and startup talents to lead this revolution. As the E-residency program has shown, it’s in the local DNA to think outside of the box, especially in the startup world.

Ragnar Sass is no exception, “We’ve seen success stories like Skype, Transferwise and Pipedrive. The people behind these first-generation highly successful startups carry so much valuable knowledge. We wish to help the next generation of startup entrepreneurs succeed by tapping into that knowledge pool, no matter where their businesses are located in the world. With smart and highly precise matches within the platform, we can have maximum impact.”

Angel investor Adam Omar Shanti, established in San Francisco and Abu Dhabi, believes that LIFT99 has identified the global and regional trends that are already shaping the future of work, “These founders have created a scalable, community-centric business model that supports entrepreneurs, and offers members of the community unique on-demand value, increases the bonds within the community, and results in the creation of much more meaningful personal connections and professional collaborations. We are thrilled to be a part of it.”

The investment group including Taizo Son, Ahti Heinla, Passion Capital, Stefan Glaenzer, United Angels, Agrello, and Adam Omar Shanti has been put together keeping in minds the unique expertise of all counterparts, to compliment the development and launch of the platform. Besides getting investors on board, Ragnar Sass has already listed the first round of unicorn startup founders, such as Ahti Heinla, Co-Founder of the very first Estonian unicorn Skype, to join the software.

The $2.3M raised will be used to expand the team behind the LIFT99 Skillsharing Platform and develop functionalities beyond the MVP. The initial version of the software will be launched beginning of June, 2018 for exclusively selected testers, in the core of the international founders’ network.

The waiting list for LIFT99 platform is here: Lift99.co/software/