Digital Accessibility: Eye-Able® raises 20 million Euro in funding round
Digital Accessibility: Eye-Able® raises 20 million Euro in funding round
Eye-Able® is cementing its position as Germany's leading software for digital accessibility
Yttrium was the lead investor in the funding round; existing investor 5I Ventures (ex-SoftwareONE CEO Dieter Schlosser) increased its investment
The funding is earmarked for expansion into European markets in France, Italy, Spain, Poland and the UK
Würzburg, 19 November 2024: The founders of Eye-Able®, the leading German software for web accessibility, announce the successful closing of a €20 million funding round. The investors are the B2B technology fund Yttrium and the existing investor Dieter Schlosser, ex-CEO of SoftwareONE with his investment fund 5I Ventures. Joshua Kimmich, captain of the German national football team, and Harald Krüger, former CEO of BMW, have been existing investors for some time. This funding round was strategically guided by Oliver Rott, acting as M&A Advisor, whose expertise contributed to the successful deal closure.
“Eye-Able® impressed us for several reasons,” says Dr. Julian Mattes, Partner at Yttrium in Frankfurt. “Digital accessibility and improving the usability of the internet for everyone is a central issue with great benefits for society. Eye-Able® has all the prerequisites to establish itself as a software leader in the market in this area: excellent customer references such as Roche, scalable software for all sizes of public and private customers and, setting Eye-Able® apart, an excellent team around Oliver and Tobias Greiner, Eric Braun and Chris Schmidt, who have been driven by their personal experience since day one to make the internet accessible.”
Solution launched at the right time
“When we founded the company in October 2020, we knew we were doing the right thing,” says Oliver Greiner, co-founder of Eye-Able®. “At the time, however, we weren't thinking about investments in the double-digit millions, nor about European expansion. So, this feels all the more amazing. And that just before what we hope will be the last Black Friday with barriers on the internet!” In addition to Germany, where Eye-Able® is already the market leader in terms of software, the founding team now wants to expand into European markets with high growth potential, such as the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Chris Schmidt, also a co-founder, explains: “We see the investors’ support as a vote of confidence for which we are grateful. For the whole team, this is a motivational boost to continue to focus all our efforts on realizing our vision: ‘Simply for everyone’ – we want to make the digital world accessible to everyone, regardless of disabilities. The European Accessibility Act plays into our plans in this regard.”
For many website operators, Eye-Able® was launched at the right time. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA), the European Union has issued a directive that makes it mandatory to make online offers aimed at consumers accessible by the deadline of 28 June 2025. This applies to all commercial online trade, travel portals including airlines and local public transport and ticket sales for events. It also includes banks, insurance companies and utility companies. In Germany, the EAA is implemented in the Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG). According to another EU regulation, the digital offerings of the public sector – including cities, municipalities, state and federal authorities – must also be designed to be accessible, independently of the EAA.
Personal experience leads to the founding
The story of Eye-Able® and its founding is closely linked to the personal experience of co-founder Oliver Greiner. His school friend Lennart has a genetic disease that has left him with only 10 per cent vision. He had to drop out of university due to digital barriers and digital accessibility. This drove Oliver Greiner to develop a solution for an accessible internet. In October 2020, he founded Web Inclusion GmbH, the company behind the Eye-Able® software, together with his brother Tobias Greiner as well as Eric Braun and Chris Schmidt. One year later, the company entered the market.
The software checks whether websites are BITV and WCAG compliant. BITV stands for Barrier-Free (meaning Accessible in German) Information Technology Ordinance; WCAG for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These are standards in Germany, and the WCAG is also considered a global guideline for the accessibility of online offerings. In summer 2024, Aktion Mensch tested the 71 largest websites of German online shops. 1
Only one-fifth of the sites met the WCAG criteria. “For people with disabilities, this means a disadvantage in everyday life, and unfortunately it is hardly getting any better. More and more new websites with barriers are being added to the internet every day than without them,” says Oliver Greiner. “In doing so, companies are harming themselves. This is because they are missing out on a large share of the purchasing power of people with disabilities. After all, there are almost 8 million people with disabilities in Germany,” he points out. Greiner's school friend Lennart now works as a product tester for Eye-Able®.
First record-breaking growth, now expansion into European markets
Just one year after the official market launch of the software solution, in the summer of 2022, the team was already able to report strong growth figures of up to 400 per cent year-over-year growth. Today, more than 2,000 customers curate 15,000 websites with Eye-Able®, over 90 per cent of them are from Germany. The largest customer group includes public clients, mainly local authorities but also state ministries and federal projects. In recent months, more and more companies have been added, including so-called blue chips, such as Deutsche Telekom, Hypo-Vereinsbank and Thomann from Germany, as well as Roche from Switzerland and Panini as an international player.
This summer, Eye-Able® has already set up teams in Singapore, Amsterdam, Paris and Warsaw, after the start-up had served initial requests in the respective markets. In Italy, there has been an existing customer base and employees for some time, and branches are about to be opened. “The EU foreign markets have one thing in common. Like in Germany, they are also subject to the EAA,” explains Chris Schmidt. “At the same time, there is a fundamental difference: while in Germany we initially served customers primarily from municipal administration, in foreign markets we are increasingly concluding contracts directly with companies – including very large firms.” In the UK, the situation is different again. There is greater awareness of inclusion in general and of digital accessibility than in most EU countries.
Further quotations for free use:
Harald Krüger:
“From an investor's point of view, Eye-Able® combines the best of both worlds. First of all, the product is both inclusive and innovative, because it uses IT to improve the lives of people with disabilities. At the same time, the founders and the entire team are so competent, motivated and focused that I believe they can achieve sustainable economic success. For these reasons, I am an investor in Eye-Able® out of conviction.”
Dieter Schlosser:
“With the European Accessibility Act, the EU will require websites to be accessible from June 2025 – a legal requirement that takes digital inclusion to a new and meaningful level. Eye-Able®, a solution 'Made in Germany', is rising to this challenge and has the potential to set standards worldwide. As one of the first investors, I support the start-up as Chairman from Singapore. I am delighted to have attracted further impressive investors for this future-oriented project and I am convinced that Eye-Able® will conquer the European market with it.”
About Eye-Able® & Web Inclusion GmbH
Behind Eye-Able® is Web Inclusion GmbH from Margetshöchheim near Würzburg. It is a holistic provider of digital accessibility. Therefore, in addition to the Eye-Able® software service, the team also offers tests according to BITV and WCAG, as well as training and workshops on the topic of digital accessibility. The software portfolio includes a WCAG testing software, an admin dashboard for visualization including PDF testing, AI tools to improve accessibility, and an assistant software as an extension for websites that are already accessible. In total, more than 2000 customers already use Eye-Able®'s software solutions. The company's goal is to enable as many people as possible to have equal access to information, knowledge and services on the internet.
About Yttrium
Yttrium (formerly Digital+ Partners), based in Frankfurt, Munich and London, is a leading technology growth investor focusing on DACH and European technology companies with over $800 million in assets under management. Yttrium is committed to supporting ambitious entrepreneurs in building global technology leaders and providing them with strategic advice and long-term financial support to help them define and execute their growth plans. Yttrium focuses exclusively on B2B technology companies and leverages an extensive corporate network to help portfolio companies access new markets and establish new partnerships.
Contact for Press Inquiries
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