Asana looks to expand globally with new funding
A company that got its start at Facebook is setting its sights abroad with a new round of funding.
San Francisco’s Asana, which makes project management software, raised $50 million in November — just 10 months after investors put $75 million in the company — and plans to use the money to expand in Europe and Asia.
A year and a half ago, Asana realized it was getting 40 percent of its revenue from international customers, even though it hadn’t focused on them much, Chief Operating Officer Chris Farinacci said — for example, by offering its interface in languages besides English.
It adapted Asana for French and German in November 2017, added Spanish and Portuguese in February, and just added Japanese as its sixth language.
Asana was founded by Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein in late 2008. The idea for the company sprang from the co-founders’ experience building software at Facebook. Moskovitz cofounded the company at Harvard University with Mark Zuckerberg, and Rosenstein helped create the Like button.
In Facebook’s early days, it was growing quickly and teams had to spend a lot of time figuring out who was doing what, so they ultimately built a tool to manage tasks.
Employees are constantly receiving notifications like emails and instant messages throughout the day, and all of that communication can cut down on productivity, Farinacci said.
“What we do is help reduce a lot of that, because if you know what matters to your team, you spend less time on who’s doing what and (finding out) if
things are falling through the cracks,” he said.
Asana is available as both web and mobile apps, and while early customers included startups like Uber and Airbnb, it’s now used by established companies like GE, Deloitte and Air France.
“It’s gone from San Francisco-based and Silicon Valley-based tech companies and disruptors to a breadth of industries beyond that and a breadth of regions across the world,” Farinacci said.
The company, which has about 400 employees, plans to open a European data center in Frankfurt next year, and will also hire more people in Sydney and Tokyo.
New money: Wrike
What it does: Helps employees manage and collaborate on projects What happened: Vista Equity Partners took a majority stake in the company. Why it matters: The investment from Vista values Wrike at around $800 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Headquarters: San Jose Funding: Undisclosed Employees: 251-500
Also trending: Crunchyroll
What it does: Streams Japanese anime and manga What happened: Crunchyroll is creating an anime series inspired by “Blade Runner 2049,” according to Variety and other reports. Why it matters: Crunchyroll will work with Alcon Television Group and Adult Swim for the series, according to Variety. The project is an opportunity to bring more viewers to Crunchyroll, which says it has more than 45 million registered users and 2 million subscribers, who pay $7 a month or $60 a year. Headquarters: San Francisco Funding: $26.8 million Employees: 101-250