Collanos Blog

Collanos Software received a Red Herring 100 Europe 2008 Award in Malta. The award places the Swiss start-up among the 100 most innovative private technology companies in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa). Collanos was one of nine Swiss companies to bag one of the highly coveted awards.
Every year, writers from the globally active media company Red Herring pick their most exciting new technology companies, 100 of which are given a prestigious Red Herring 100 Europe Award.

Swiss start-ups are gaining ever greater recognition from Red Herring every year. In 2008, Switzerland produced nine of the 100 top companies netting an award. A year ago, seven Swiss companies won an award, and in 2006 the total was six. In addition to Collanos, the following Swiss companies won a Red Herring 100 Europe 2008 Award: Language Direct, LiberoVision, Museeka, ReVolt Technology, SECU4, sonic emotion, Starhome and Symfact. Compared with the number of German winners, this year and last year there were 12 winners, compared with six in 2006.

Collanos Software has qualified for final selection in the 2008 Red Herring 100 Europe! This award is presented each year to the 100 best private technology firms in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa).

“This year’s impressive list of submissions from companies demonstrates Europe’s growing role as a major centre of innovation in the global technology sector,” said Red Herring Editor-in-Chief Joel Dreyfuss. “The exceptional accomplishments of European technology start-ups and entrepreneurs are a testament to the rapid advancements being made in building the European innovation ecosystem.”

Peter Helfenstein, CEO of Collanos Software, is pleased. “The number of Swiss companies selected as finalists for the Red Herring European 100, among them Collanos, shows that thanks to Swiss quality engineering, the willingness for collaboration across borders and the excellent institutional support for internationalization, Swiss start-ups are in a great position to prosper in the global market.”

Red Herring’s editorial staff rigorously evaluated several hundred private companies through a careful analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy, and dedication to research and development.

In 2007, Collanos was selected as a candidate for the Emerging Tech Award by Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Also in 2007 Collanos at CeBIT was awarded with the Innovation Prize ITK for Collanos Workplace and in 2008 for the new Collanos Phone.

Today, the new version of Collanos Workplace, 1.3, will be made available. The foundation of Collanos Workplace has been thoroughly optimized and the teamwork functions have been largely extended. Collanos now includes a Team Instant Messenger environment. In addition, Collanos Workplace 1.3 sets standards as to a comprehensive user task management. Team members can work with their own Windows, Mac or Linux systems, and the results will be available to the other team members on the internet –as simply and fast as using a server-based solution.

Collanos has boosted the technology behind its p2p (peer to peer) platform. Any online team member can ensure that all other team members, even if online only for a short period, have access to the most up-to-date workspace content.

The most noticeable improvement from a user´s perspective is the new task management function which is now accessible from all across Workplace. In an overview window, the user can view, track and maintain all the tasks across all his workspaces. In addition, a new Collanos Instant Messenger has been integrated into the teamwork environment. It allows team members to conduct dialogs, discuss issues and work out creative solutions by using the chatting function.

The extensions of version 1.3 will allow Collanos to develop and offer new features in the upcoming months. “The extensions of the peer-to-peer technology allow Collanos partners and service providers to offer value-added services”, explains Franco Dal Molin, president and CTO of Collanos Software. “These offerings include persistent, secure and reliable data storage, permanent team synchronization and the possibility to access workspace content from the browser. Messaging is planned to be augmented with team messaging and voice/video functionality. As in task management, other relevant team work tasks will be supported Workplace-wide, for example, in the form of team calendars and other tools for planning and change management.”

Workplace 1.3 is seen as the turning point for Collanos to establish itself clearly as the leading cross-company teamwork environment on the internet. Peter Helfenstein, CEO of Collanos Software, is convinced: “The solid foundation to support ad-hoc teamwork has been established. Teamwork has always been of great importance. In our globally networked world, effective teamwork has become the crucial factor of success. With Collanos Workplace 1.3, the required platform and tools are now available to everybody.”

The third largest Swiss Bank, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), comes on board as an additional institutional investor in Collanos Software, a Swiss-American start-up.

Experienced management, promising products, an innovative business model, and a compelling market with a demonstrable growing global user community were the key criteria for the decision. ZKB joins existing notable private and institutional investors American Ecosystem Ventures, and serial Swiss entrepreneurs Andreas Danuser (Swiss VoIP Pioneer) and Reto Hartinger.

The ZKB investment allows Collanos to continue the development of free teamwork and phone solutions and get ready for the launch of the much anticipated Premium services developed along with partner Translumina Networks. ZKB intends to take on a role as an active investor, as Oliver Schärli, Head of ZKB Start-up Finance, was quoted: “Collanos will for sure profit as well from our great networking with other institutional investors“ .

“We are excited that the thorough financial, technical and economical due diligence, conducted by Switzerland’s third largest bank’s Start-up Finance specialists, resulted in this outcome,” said Peter Helfenstein, CEO of Collanos Software. “Since we have been a certified CTI start-up company for a while now, ZKB’s decision further substantiates the quality and outlook of our venture. We are well prepared and confident that we will close our Series A financing round very soon”.

Collanos Software and beteo, two global Swiss start-ups, close ranks to share resources, expertise and partnerships. Collanos Software CEO Peter Helfenstein in addition takes on the COO position of beteo. Hence both Collanos and beteo can profit from the experiences and structures of both companies. Despite the intensive cooperation and the shared resources, beteo and Collanos will remain clearly distinctive companies.

Dieter Steiger, founder and CEO of beteo as well as Advisory Board Member of Collanos, claims that “Collanos Software is an exemplary Swiss global start-up. With the help of our management team and Peter Helfenstein as our new COO, we’ll position beteo similarly well on the international market. Of course, I’m thrilled at the prospect”.

The joint forces allow both companies to acquire a certain critical size faster and more easily. Marketing and alliance functions can be created in an earlier phase for both Europe and the U.S. Together, these two firms represent a far more interesting service and software partner for large American and European IT-companies such as HP, SAP, Apple or Sun Microsystems. It also makes them more attractive as a potential client for the near and offshore development partners in Ukraine and India. beteo and Collanos shoulder to shoulder can make joint and better use of their expertise in PR, web presence, product management and investments in infrastructure and back office.

“We are fully aware that reduced working hours of Peter Helfenstein may be a risk for both companies. However, we believe that the synergies and lower costs obtained, will fully justify this partnership”, says Franco Dal Molin, founder, president and CTO of Collanos. “beteo is an ambitious, fast growing and profitable company with unique expertise and potential. Being able to benefit from this is a privilege and a great opportunity for our team. Even though the targeted customer segments are different, both companies have to tackle basically the same tasks. Now, we can do so in a joint effort”.

Even with the intensive cooperation and the sharing of resources, beteo and Collanos will remain distinctly separate companies. Peter Helfenstein, CEO of Collanos Software and new COO of beteo, asserts that “despite a very close collaboration, the two global Swiss start-ups want to act autonomously to a large extent. Both are developing independently according to their own strategy. Yet, thanks to the new partner, they will do so more efficiently and effectively. We are open to alliances with additional Swiss start-ups that share global ambitions with us”.

About beteo

beteo is a visionary Switzerland based global software and consulting start-up. Its application lifecycle management solutions and services focus on keeping Enterprise software system environments flexibly and efficiently adaptable to the changing business needs of the future.

It was founded in February 2007 as a spin-off of a leading Swiss IT Governance service company and is based in Sarnen, Switzerland, and Berlin, Germany. Among its clients are well-known companies in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

We are excited to announce the availability of Collanos Workplace 1.2.
This new release includes major technical improvements along with some new features:

• P2P content replication now synchronizes workspaces much faster.
• Computer resource consumption has been significantly reduced.
• Mac OS X and Windows Vista users will enjoy improved compatibility with their OS.
• Offline users are notified immediately via email when invited to a workspace.
• Import contacts from existing address books in other applications and invite them to join Collanos.
• Provide feedback and communicate issues directly (with all log files automatically attached) to Collanos technical support.
• Many minor improvements, including user interface, traffic optimizations, and more.

When running Collanos Workplace 1.2 you may be asked to change your Collanos Name. This is due to a new formatting rule that has been introduced to lay the foundation for future features, including the Collanos Phone and other voice services that will be rolled out very soon.

Important: Download the new version and install it over your old Workplace installation. Your existing workspaces will be updated automatically. Synchronization will work only between other 1.2 Workplace versions. Make sure ALL your team members upgrade as well.

You can find more detailed release notes on the Collanos Forum. We are confident you will enjoy the new power injected into Collanos Workplace and look forward to getting your feedback on the Forum or via email.

Download and install Collanos Workplace 1.2 today!

Boston — June 20, 2007 – Collanos Software was selected to participate in Enterprise 2.0’s Launch Pad. Collanos’ mission is connecting people and enabling professional teamwork on a global basis and beyond enterprise boundaries.

Launch Pad features companies that are demonstrating the release of a new product or service. Collanos is one out of four companies selected to present on the main stage during Enterprise 2.0.

Collanos Workplace provides an easy to use, p2p platform for team members to collaborate on projects using Windows, Mac, and Linux Systems, without the need of a server. At the Enterprise 2.0 Launch Pad, Collanos will preview its new integrated communications services allowing team members to collaborate via voice and video in addition to conversation threads, instant messaging, and notes.

Collanos Workplace offers small business teams, students, non-profit organizations, and other knowledge-sharing professionals, an easy-to-use set of comprehensive collaboration tools. Collanos’ global collaborative network allows internet users to easily form teams and effectively collaborate together on a shared passion, goal, or project.

Enterprise 2.0 unites IT and business professionals striving for a more creative, alert, and productive company atmosphere. This conference drives the exploration and adoption of collaborative tools and technologies, focusing not only on the technology, but how the technology works with people.

SAN FRANCISCO — May 24, 2007 — Collanos Software today released Collanos Workplace 1.1, a free p2p platform that enables team collaboration on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems without the need for a server. Version 1.1 lays the foundation for global team collaboration. In addition, several new features have been added, including a Central User Directory, User Sign In/Out, and Vista OS support. Collanos delivers increased reliability, speed, and overall performance.

Collanos Workplace offers small business teams, students, non-profit organizations, and other knowledge-sharing professionals, an easy-to-use set of comprehensive collaboration tools. Collanos’ global collaborative network allows internet users to easily form teams and effectively collaborate together on a shared passion, goal, or project.

With the introduction of the Collanos Central User Directory, users will be able to see and invite any other Collanos community member, even if they are offline. Collanos Workplace allows users to restore any previous version of team member contributions. The Auto start kicks off the replication process immediately after the computer goes online. With the new Sign In/Out step, on top of the existing data encryption and secure storage, Collanos adds an additional security measure to protect project and team data.

Existing Workplace users will see an immediate improvement with the overall performance of the application, and in the speed of content replication across each team member’s workspaces.

With this new release, Collanos Software continues to execute on its vision of bringing free, easy-to-use, yet powerful team collaboration solutions to millions of internet users. Collanos’ mission is connecting collaborating people and enabling professional teamwork on a global basis and beyond enterprise boundaries.

“Over the last few months Collanos has been collecting input from the thousands of Windows, Mac and Linux users to better manage their team projects,” said Franco Dal Molin, CTO and President of Collanos. “Quarter over quarter Collanos triples its users. From the new release we expect important acceleration for this growth.

Following very active engagements and a dramatic increase in Collanos’ user-base in Europe over the last few months, Collanos and Musala Soft, our Bulgarian software development partner, were awarded “Innovation Award ITK 2007 Office Organization ” by Initiative Mittelstand, a German initiative to develop small and medium size businesses.

The award was given following Germany’s reknown CeBIT conference. Other category winners to receive similar awards include Open-Xchange, Collax, www.salesforce.com and Joomla!.

Jenni Kommunikation commits to climate project by donating a percentage of their travel costs to myclimate.org’s climate protection projects. In addition Jenni Kommunikation is leveraging collaboration tools to cut down on travel costs and increase productivity.

Zurich, April 2, 2007. As of April 1, 2007, Zurich based PR agency Jenni Kommunikation started investing in myclimate’s climate protection project. Each time an employee of Jenni Kommunikation travels on business purposes by car or airplane, Jenni Kommunikation donates a sum of the travel costs to myclimate.org. In addition to the donation, Jenni Kommunikation is also using collaboration tools like Collanos Workplace or Netviewer to reduce travel frequency, while still holding productive meetings.

Since its launch on April 1, 1996, Jenni Kommunikation has consulted companies in various industries: IT and telecommunications, travel and tourism, and start-ups. In order to provide a high degree of customer support, and agility in reacting to market influences, Jenni Kommunikation has to constantly be in contact with their clients.

“Thanks to the adoption of collaboration solutions like Collanos Workplace and Netviewer, we can work in real-time with our clients without needing to travel to work with them. We can be just as efficient virtually using Collanos Workplace to share documents and Netviewer to work on documents in real-time. We have also been able to cut down on car and airplane travel, which helps reduce CO2 emissions,” said Urs Jenni, owner of the agency. In addition we actively contribute to conserve an intact environment by compensating for our remaining car or airplane business travel by buying certificates from myclimate. I am of the firm opinion that companies in our communication’s industry have the responsibility not only to communicate about role models but to live them actively.”

René Estermann, CEO of myclimate, is pleased by this decision of Jenni Kommunikation: “It is key for our cause that small enterprises also set an example and demonstrate their sense of responsibility.”

Myclimate, the Zurich based non-profit foundation, is one of the leading providers of voluntary compensation measures. The compensation of the emissions is achieved through projects protecting the climate in less developed countries. Emissions are reduced by replacing fossil energy sources with renewable energies and are implemented with more energy efficient technologies. In addition to the reduction of greenhouse gas, myclimate’s climate protection projects achieve a demonstrable positive lasting contribution to development.

More information:

Jenni Kommunikation
Urs Jenni
Sudstrasse 85/PF
CH - 8034 Zurich
http://www.jeko.com

myclimate
Kathrin Dellantonio
Technoparkstrasse 1
CH - 8005 Zurich
http://www.myclimate.org

About Jenni Kommunikation

Zurich based Jenni Kommunikation founded in 1996 by Urs Jenni is specialized on Media and Blogger Relations in consumer and corporate PR. Well known companies in technology, telecommunications and consumer Electronics trust in the expertise and the business network of the agency. Main pillars in addition are Swiss start-ups. Jenni Kommunikation covers all Swiss language areas and can build on a broad international network of partner agencies.