- At the head of the company is Álvaro Pintado, a young entrepreneur who is only 19 years old.
- Places its post-money valuation at 16 million euros
Madrid, July 2, 2024.- The Spanish startup hello.app, the first company that pays its users in exchange for storage space on their devices, has closed a financing round of 500,000 euros, with the support of public investors and private, and places its post-money valuation at 16 million euros.
The funds raised will be used for the development and launch of the app on IOS and Android along with the activation of the “contribution node” function to consolidate itself as the first app in the world that pays its users in exchange for the storage space they do not use. of their mobile devices. The round has had the participation of several investors and private capital based throughout Europe, as well as some of the current partners. Among them are private investors such as Gerald Heydenreich, founder of Ethermail, David Holtmann or Albert Bonet, among others.
The operation is in addition to the investment round of 170,000 euros that closed with investors such as Iese, Esade, Castiventures and Bcombinator, and the loan of 130,000 euros from the National Innovation Company (Enisa).
They hope to reach 3 million users in 2025
The company founded by Álvaro Pintado Santaularia (19 years old), which began operations in 2022, already has nearly 200,000 users from more than 200 countries and has set the goal of reaching 3 million users in 2025.
Differentiating value proposition
In addition to being the only app that offers its users (individuals and companies) financial compensation in exchange for storage space on their devices, its value proposition is based on addressing the limitations of traditional Web2 storage solutions and positioning itself as a Web3 alternative to popular centralized cloud giants like Dropbox or Google.
They allow their users to obtain an extra source of income by “renting” the storage space of their devices. “We have taken the system of successful companies like Airbnb or Uber and have taken it to data storage,” says Álvaro Pintado, CEO of hello.app.
In the words of Pintado; “In a short time, computers like our phones, iPads or laptops will be able to replace large centralized server farms with distributed storage, which means, on the one hand, that those who own these farms will become increasingly expendable, and, on the other hand, another, that whoever manages to build that first decentralized and collaborative computing and storage network based on the devices we already have, will be unstoppable.”
About hello.app
hello.app is a Spanish company that has created the first app in the world that pays money to its users in exchange for giving up storage space on their personal mobile devices (phones, tablets or laptops). They define themselves as the “Airbnb of data storage”. It is the first Web3 and open source decentralized data storage software (controlled by users themselves) in the world and was born to revolutionize and democratize the way data is stored worldwide.
It is the first alternative that exists to large centralized server farms; a more sustainable, more transparent alternative with which the user will be able to have absolute control over their data/information and, in addition, obtain financial compensation for giving up space on their mobile devices (it is the first App in the world that allows this).
Founded by young entrepreneurs Álvaro Pintado Santaularia (19 years old) and Alexander Baikalov (20 years old), its unique value proposition is based on addressing the limitations of traditional Web2 storage solutions and positioning itself as Web3's decentralized alternative to the popular centralized cloud giants like Dropbox or Google.
