Notable Deals: Miro’s Magic

Miro emerged as one of the biggest startup success stories of the global pandemic. Earlier this month, the virtual whiteboarding company raised $400 million in series C to “invest in product development and programs designed to bring the visual collaboration platform to more enterprises” and “continue expanding its global footprint,” according to their statement. Investors in the latest round include ICONIQ Growth, Accel, Atlassian, Dragoneer and Salesforce Ventures. 

While the future of work has become a hot space with plenty of competition, it’s Miro’s global team and ambitious, multi-layered vision that has attracted a big-name customer and investor following. The Russian-born founders have shared details about their entrepreneurial journey and what prepared them for building a global company and a product that is embraced by the likes of Netflix, Twitter, Cisco, PwC and Deloitte.

“Coming from Perm to San Francisco, I was entering a market I didn’t understand, in a country I didn’t know and hadn’t lived in, with customers and people I couldn’t immediately empathize with,” Miro CEO Andrey Khusid told Accel. “So I realized from the very beginning of our US journey that I had to get out of my comfort zone, find people who were deeply knowledgeable about the market and its customers, and hire individuals who could bring a new and diverse perspective into our organization and our leadership.”

Founded in 2011, it became profitable last year just when many startups struggled to stay afloat. Their valuation skyrocketed from $725 million in April 2020 (according to PitchBook) to $17.5 billion (with a “B”) as of this latest round.

The visual collaboration platform, which is free for students and teachers, goes beyond just the virtual whiteboards. The company offers a wide range of products and solutions, from small startups and university classrooms to multinational companies across a range of industries.

“Global organizations are adopting the platform to engage teams and collaborate in more meaningful ways, for use cases ranging from designing products, managing business transformation, to implementing complex processes efficiently and productively,” says John Doran, General Partner at TCV, which also participated in the recent round. “Miro’s intuitive, accessible, and purpose-built collaboration platform allows teams to bring everyone to the table to co-create, and positions Miro as a critical element of the new software stack driving modern, hybrid work models.”

According to one review, a part of their secret sauce has been “the app’s UX succeeds in approximating that sense of social closeness and ‘tactility’ you get when you’re working in the same room as other people.”

The company has now amassed 30 million users, a 500% jump since the series B round a year ago. That’s quite the pace of growth.

“It’s a big challenge to scale at that pace, especially being fully remote,” Khusid told TechCrunch. “I call it ‘building a plane while flying.’”