n8n, a ‘fair code’ workflow automation platform, raises seed from Sequoia as VC firm steps up in Europe

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
especially in times of needing to be as efficient as possible), one of the bigger IT trends has been a push to streamline how people work by
creating better integrations between the different apps that they use
Today, a startup out of Berlin, Germany is announcing seed funding to help it enter the fray of those that are helping make those
and Nan Li and Daniel Liem of Obvious Ventures (individually, not via Obvious).Within that pretty impressive list, investment represents a
region
The Silicon Valley VC has been quietly putting down roots in the European market over the last several months, including scouting for talent
and local deals
other firms, startups as well as much bigger outfits, that have identified the opportunity for making tools to help developers and others
who are less technical to stitch together disparate apps
They include other startups like Zapier, RapidAPI, and Tray.io, as well as companies that have well and truly transitioned out of the
startup phase of life, such as MuleSoft (acquired by Salesforce for the princely sum of $6.5 billion).Oberhauser is well aware of all of
Either they were too pricey, or not flexible or robust enough to use in the wide variety of niche applications that he was using in his
previous life in film production, or required a ton of reading of arcane documentation, or lacked the ability to scale or operate on his own
be something that could be turned into a service for others.[gallery type="slideshow" ids="1958989,1958987,1958986"]One of the unique things
certain size, or wants to use it in a different format, such as on a SaaS model.Oberhauser is not only a user of fair code, but has become
something of a pioneering entrepreneur in the space, also helping to run a site, appropriately called Fair-Code.io to encourage more fair
there are definitely plans for n8n to bring in monetising elements into the mix.The current version is one that can be hosted by a user
And people really like and care about data privacy, and are getting like that more every day
They want to own it and change it
launch next month
and integration services, which will take another year likely to launch (remember the startup is only five months old).The third area for
making money will be through licensing fees for larger users (a size which it has yet to determine) but even now the service as it stands
of Sequoia and London firm firstminute (the London VC co-founded by Brent Hoberman, Spencer Crawley and Henry Lane-Fox that specialises in
early stage investments and counts VCs like Atomico as partners) through the responses that he got to his short post on HackerNews, and then
to relocate from Berlin, where he has a young family to help support and where he intended to found the company (joining YC would have
In fact, he built all of n8n bootstrapped as a side hustle while working part-time at other places, such was the need for income before this
seed round.That kind of grit, combined with identifying and fixing a clear gap in the market addressing what a defined audience (in this
case, developers) needs, in a scalable way, with the proof being immediate interest and take-up from said target market, seemed to make the
here, sources have told us (and there have been reports) that this is intention, with the timeline being to set it up later this year
This is with the caveat of recent events related to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, which have included a huge drop in the stock market and
operating a bigger office in Europe would represent a big vote of confidence in the region
European VC firm Atomico projected in November 2019 that there would be $35 billion of investment this year in European technology, a high
water mark for the region
That represents an opportunity both in terms simply more startups but also later rounds for the biggest of these, both areas where Sequoia
no shortage in raising money
It was reported last month that the VC is currently raising a fresh $1.3 billion, earmarked for Asia
And as recently as late December, it filed papers to raise $1 billion for US growth rounds and $2.4 billion for China.Without committing
it had been working on since last year, we understand), the firm had been making later-stage investments in Europe for years, including
signals how now it is diversifying into a wider set of investment opportunities
These include not just earlier rounds like this first seed investment in Germany
But also newer technologies: for example, as part of the investor group putting $12 million into cryptocurrency wallet Argent earlier this
week.