How to have up to twenty people to work together in online brainstorming sessions

Posted on February 17, 2008
Filed Under Startups, web 2.0 news |

Two guys from Copenhagen, Denmark & St. Petersburg Russia have recently launched a startup that is probably going to attract the attention of many VC/PE tech funds. It is hard to estimate the value of this project, but it seems that it is going to be very expensive to invest in this startup. Time will tell what is going to happen.

Basically, Comapping is a unique collaborative web-based mind mapping tool which has essentially transformed traditional mind mapping into a user friendly web 2.0 application.

Key features and benefits:
1) Collaborative problem-solving
a) Multiple people can work collaborative on the same map
b) Task management that can send status e-mails
c) Make simple and understandable presentations online
2) Web-based and easy to use
a) Fully internet-based mind mapping application
b) No installation required â€“ start Comapping instantly
even with your peers
c) Works both on PC and Mac
3) Mind mapping designed for you
a) Organized left to right providing much faster overview
of your semantic structure
b) Intelligent Autofocus while reviewing, editing and
presenting Comaps
c) Smooth animations and very fast navigation

It has a unique au to collapsing algorithm which optimizes the user of screen which is a serious limitation for existing mind mapping software. The founders have also conducted a number of user tests and have as a result chosen to design Comapping using a left to right mind mapping technique as it provides a much better overview of the semantic structure. This really comes through when collaborating with multiple users.

The usage of Comapping is diverse and only the mind sets limitations. In business you can use this simply as a project management tool or to hold brainstorming sessions with users located at multiple locations. For education purposes, a group of students can take study notes by working on one map or use it to structure their thesis and share it with their tutors. Even individuals can create a simple shopping list or plan the next dinner party.

There is a two minute video on the website which provides a quick introduction to our program.

The founders have recently told us about their plans: “Comapping has entered into a product/marketing alliance with a US fortune 500 company. The product we are planning on launching with them is a variant of Comapping specifically targeted towards the US education market. Our alliance partner has a brand awareness of over 95% among the student target market. The goal is to leverage their brand in providing an effective collaborative note-taking tool based on the mind mapping principles.

Due to confidentiality reasons we cannot reveal the name of the company at this point of time. We plan to launch the product with them end Q108/ start Q208 where we will reveal the alliance to the public.

Comapping on the other hand has been launched and is specifically targeting the corporate market. For this segment we have a number of customized solutions including a deployable server solution that allows organizations to run Comapping on their own internal server. We are also working on a d esktop version that integrates seamlessly with the online version”.

Comapping wants to introduce the power of collaborative web-based mind mapping to the generally public and corporate market at an affordable price. Existing mind mapping software is not only expensive but can also be tedious when it comes to local installation on computers. Since Comapping is a collaborative web-based application it opens up a whole new segment of users that otherwise were not addressed by incumbent applications.

Comapping will also working towards partnering with like minded collaboration products for the corporate market so that it can provide cost effective tools for virtual collaboration and brainstorming.

The founders are not sure yet if they need an investor, but is seems that additional funding will be needed to expand the project.