Collanos Blog

The popular German business magazine “brand eins” has a great story about European entrepreneurs moving to California to start, re-launch, invigorate or otherwise promote their start-up companies. The article contains bits and pieces about Collanos Software, which had also launched its US activities in 2006-2007 with the help of the Swiss start-up promotion agency “CTI Start-up“. We started our US activities based out of “swissnex San Franciso“, a Swiss innovation incubator and networking hub.

Our legal counselor in the US, Achim Hölzle with FeldbergPacific Law Group, made it even to the double-page cover picture (guy on the right) of the story!

Download PDF document.

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 ist in Malta mit dem Red Herring 100 Europa 2008 Award ausgezeichnet worden. Wir gehören damit zu den innovativsten 100 privaten Technologie-Firmen in der EMEA-Region (Europe, Middle East, Africa). Neben uns holten sich acht weitere Schweizer Unternehmen die begehrte Auszeichnung.
Autoren des weltweit tätigen Medien-Unternehmens Red Herring qualifizieren jährlich die spannendsten neuen Technologie-Firmen, 100 davon werden mit dem prestigeträchtigen Red Herring 100 Europe Award ausgezeichnet.

Schweizer Start-ups werden von Red Herring von Jahr zu Jahr besser bewertet: 2008 wurden insgesamt 9 Unternehmen aus den 200 Besten als Sieger gekürt. Vor einem Jahr gewannen sieben Unternehmen aus der Schweiz den Award, 2006 waren es deren sechs. Neben Collanos haben die folgenden Schweizer Unternehmen den Red Herring 100 Europa 2008 gewonnen: Language Direct, LiberoVision, Museeka, ReVolt Technology, SECU4, sonic emotion, Starhome und Symfact.

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 we made available release 1.3.0.2 - a pure maintenance release for Collanos Workplace. It fixes a number of defects and limitations discovered since the launch of the main 1.3 version three weeks ago. Furthermore, this maintenance release reduces the load on CPU, bandwidth and overall traffic volume significantly. Several optimizations were applied to the replication engine. All users should update to this version to guarantee smooth operation of Collanos Workplace.

For more information, please check also the release notes.

Collanos Workplace 1.3.0.1 is an important release of the multi-platform P2P team collaboration solution. This version contains a number of new features, major improvements to existing functionality, as well as many enhancements and bug fixes. The focus of this release was to further improve the overall user experience, fill-in functionality gaps, and increase the collaboration productivity of dispersed teams.

These goals have been achieved with the following measures. The core P2P content synchronization algorithm has been further enhanced with the much anticipated “fetch from any” capability. Team members can now synchronize with any other team member, even if the original content creator is not currently online. A brand new real-time instant messaging subsystem is replacing the old “send a message” function. The new instant messenger supports informal ongoing chats with all existing contacts, outside the scope of team workspaces.

To improve the life of Task intensive workers, a new “All Tasks” perspective has been introduced. Tasks from all folders of all workspaces can now be viewed, filtered and changed in one location.

To facilitate moving data in from and out to the operating system, a number of functions were added. Dragging and dropping of folders now works also from “inside-out”, i.e. whole workplace folder structures can easily be dragged and dropped to the file system. As an alternative function, users can also use the new “Copy To…” function. Finally, File objects can now be opened with any application, using the new “Open With…” feature. Many more enhancements have been implemented. See the illustrated Release Notes (PDF format) for more details.

As always, Collanos Workplace 1.3.0.1 is available in versions for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The software is available in English, German and Chinese translations. The current version 1.3 is compatible with the last version 1.2, which will give teams with mixed installations a smoother transition. The new release is available both as installer from Collanos’ web site and automatic update process for existing users.

Collanos is proudly improving the FREE basic version of Workplace with each new release. Our gratification is a steadily growing and vibrant user community. We look forward to your feedbacks! Please help up by spreading the good news. Use the built-in “Invite to Collanos” tool and invite all your contacts and friends. Thank you!

Release Highlights
This Workplace release contains a number of important improvements and new features:

• P2P “Fetch From Any” replication algorithm
• Persistent Instant Messenger
• New “All Tasks” perspective
• New “Open With…” function on File objects
• Drag and Drop workspace folders to file system
• New “Copy To…” function to file system
• Automatic detection of “inconsistent members”
• Plus many more enhancements…

Compatibility
Workplace versions 1.2 and 1.3 are protocol-compatible with each other for all basic operations. Mixed teams will be able to work together. Users with old versions will obviously not benefit from new features and improved capabilities. Furthermore, even 1.3 users will have limitations when interacting with old users. For example, a Workplace 1.2 user and a Workplace 1.3 user won’t be able to use the new instant messenger together.

Automatic Update
We strongly recommend upgrading to the latest version. Workplace 1.2 users will benefit from an automated upgrade process. All you need to do is restart your application to trigger the auto-update process.

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.”

Collanos macht heute die neue Version seines Collanos Workplace 1.3 verfügbar. Das Fundament von Collanos Workplace wurde massiv verbessert und die eigentlichen Teamworkfunktionen wurden wesentlich erweitert. Collanos ist nun auch eine Team-Instant-Messenger-Umgebung. Zudem setzt Collanos Workplace 1.3 neue Standards für umfassendes Task-Management der Benutzer. Teamworker können mit ihrem eigenen Windows-, Mac- oder Linux-Rechner arbeiten, die Ergebnisse stehen den anderen Teammitgliedern im Internet trotzdem genauso einfach und schnell zur Verfügung wie beim Einsatz einer Server-basierten Lösung.

Collanos hat die Technologie seiner p2p (Peer-to-Peer)-Plattform mit der neuen Version weiter ausgebaut und verfeinert. Bereits ein einzelnes online Teammitglied stellt sicher, dass alle anderen Teammitglieder, wenn auch nur kurzzeitig online, die Ergebnisse der Arbeiten der Teammitglieder auf dem allerneuesten Stand zur Verfügung haben.

Den wohl grössten funktionalen Schritt für den Benutzer bietet Collanos mit dem neu eingeführten Workplace-übergreifenden Task-Management. Der Benutzer kann alle definierten Tasks über seine sämtlichen Teams hinweg in einer Übersicht einsehen, tracken, pflegen und ergänzen. In die Teamwork-Umgebung wurde zudem ein neuer Collanos Instant Messenger integriert. Teammitglieder können so in gewohnter Weise mittels Chatting Dialoge führen, Probleme diskutieren und kreativ Lösungen erarbeiten.

Mit den Erweiterungen der Version 1.3 legt Collanos die Basis, um seinen Benutzern in den nächsten Monaten weitere neue Funktionen zur Verfügung zu stellen. „Die Erweiterungen der Peer-to-Peer-Technologie erlauben, dass in Zukunft Collanos-Partner oder Service Provider Mehrwertdienste anbieten“, erläutert Franco Dal Molin, President und CTO von Collanos Software. „Diese Angebote reichen von der permanenten, sicheren und zuverlässigen Datenhaltung, hundert Prozent verfügbarer Teamsynchronisation bis hin zum Zugriff auf die Ergebnisse der Teamarbeit nur über Browser. Messaging soll bald um Team-Messaging und Voice-/Videofunktionen ergänzt werden. Analog dem Task Management werden weitere relevante Teamworkaufgaben in Zukunft Workplace-übergreifend unterstützt, so beispielsweise in Form von Teamkalendern sowie weiteren Planungs- und Change Management-Werkzeugen.“

Der neue Release 1.3. ist für Collanos Ausgangspunkt, um sich definitiv als die führende firmenübergreifende Teamwork-Umgebung am Internet zu etablieren. „Das solide Fundament, um das ad-hoc Teamwork professionell zu unterstützen, ist nun gelegt“, ist Peter Helfenstein, CEO von Collanos Software, überzeugt. „Teamwork war schon immer wichtig. In der global vernetzten Welt ist gutes Teamwork der Erfolgsfaktor schlechthin. Die dafür benötigte Plattform und die Werkzeuge stehen mit Collanos Workplace 1.3 ab sofort jedem zur Verfügung.“

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”.

Mit der Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) holt sich das schweizerisch-amerikanische Software Startup Collanos einen weiteren institutionellen Investor an Bord.

Die professionelle Unternehmensführung, ein vielversprechendes Produkt, ein innovatives Businessmodell und ein interessanter Markt mit einer bereits sehenswerten globalen Benutzergemeinde gaben den Ausschlag für den Investitionsentscheid. Die ZKB reiht sich so zu namhaften privaten wie institutionellen Investoren. Bereits in Collanos investiert sind die amerikanische Ecosystem Ventures, der schweizerische Voice over IP-Pionier und Unternehmer Dr. Andreas Danuser oder der Internet-Experte Reto Hartinger.

Die Investition der ZKB erlaubt es Collanos, die Entwicklung der frei verfügbaren Teamwork- und Telefonielösungen fortzuführen und zusätzlich die kostenpflichtigen Collanos Premium Services mit dem Partner Translumina Networks auf den Markt zu bringen. ZKB Start-up Finance versteht sich nicht nur als Investor. „Collanos wird bestimmt auch von unserer guten Vernetzung mit anderen institutionellen Investoren profitieren können“, sagt Oliver Schärli, Head Start-up Finance der ZKB.

„Wir sind sehr stolz darauf, dass die sehr exakte, umfassende finanzielle und fachliche Prüfung durch den Start-up-Bereich der drittgrössten Schweizer Bank zu diesem positiven Resultat geführt hat“, erklärt Peter Helfenstein, CEO von Collanos Software, „Bereits seit einiger Zeit mit dem KTI-Startup Label ausgezeichnet, belegt diese Entscheidung der ZKB die Qualität und Vertrauenswürdigkeit unseres Ventures. Wir sind für die bald anstehende Series A Finanzierungsrunde gut vorbereitet und sehr zuversichtlich.“