How we partnered with a German start-up: App developer Spreadsheetopia

Australian app developer Spreadsheetopia has partnered with German start-up KeyRocket after being discovered on video-sharing platform Vimeo.

Spreadsheetopia, based in Melbourne, has developed an app – Spreadsheetopia Fundamentals – that makes it quicker and easier to format Microsoft Excel spreadsheets on Windows and Macs.

“I’d been working for years with poorly formatted spreadsheets sent to me by friends and peers who didn’t know, or couldn’t work out, how to format,” co-founder Jason Bagg says.

“And let’s face it, if you’re not dealing with Excel every day, and even if you are, it can be daunting. Even people who do deal with it daily sometimes struggle.”

“So the challenge was to make a quick and easy formatting app that anyone can use to make spreadsheeting a painless process, and make the finished spreadsheet look professional as well.”

The process of building the app was a collaborative effort from the start. All programming and design work was crowdsourced and completed within two weeks.

Spreadsheetopia has now entered into a partnership with German start-up KeyRocket to cross-promote products, share market feedback, and research customer acquisition strategies.

KeyRocket, which is based in Berlin, offers consumers timesaving keyboard shortcuts. The shortcut hints appear as pop-ups on the user’s computer screen so as not to interrupt workflow.

The software also includes success notifications and a personal progress dashboard, designed to make learning shortcuts more enjoyable and rewarding.

KeyRocket supports Microsoft Office applications – including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook – and Windows. A Chrome extension to use shortcuts in Gmail is also available.

KeyRocket became interested in Spreadsheetopia after spotting it on Vimeo, a US-based video-sharing website on which users can upload, share and view videos.

“KeyRocket found our video on Vimeo and sent us an email introducing themselves,” Bagg says.

“From there we met in person in Berlin and schedule regular calls to keep in touch. We’ve now developed a professional arrangement that will benefit both parties.”

“Collaboration is the key in this agile app development market.”

Spreadsheetopia will launch directly to KeyRocket’s customer base in the coming weeks, further expanding the app’s reach.

KeyRocket co-founder Jan Mechtell says he knew the two start-ups would collaborate after meeting Spreadsheetopia in Berlin.

“When I stumbled across Spreadsheetopia, I knew it was exactly what our users need to save time in Excel,” Mechtell says.

“After meeting in Berlin and seeing how much Spreadsheetopia and KeyRocket think alike, it was clear that we’d work together.”