Switchboard Beta Launches to Power Remote Work, Announces $13.8M in Seed Funding
Backed by Sequoia, XYZ, Spark Capital, and The General Partnership, the first-of-its-kind product brings together teams and tools for side-by-side collaboration in the cloud
Switchboard, the cloud coworking space, emerged out of stealth today. Users interested in accessing the platform can sign up here. The company secured $13.8M in seed funding last year from Sequoia, XYZ Ventures, and The General Partnership. Spark Capital, Cleo Capital, Dylan Field, Joe Thomas, John Lilly, and others also participated in the round.
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Recognizing the need for collaboration tools that better emulated the in-person experience, Switchboard’s world-class technology team developed a platform that moves beyond passive communication and screen-sharing and towards a remote work environment that allows for true side-by-side engagement.
Recognizing the need for collaboration tools that better emulated the in-person experience, Switchboard’s world-class technology team developed a platform that moves beyond passive communication and screen-sharing and towards a remote work environment that allows for true side-by-side engagement and full team participation.
“Switchboard exists because we deserve a work environment that helps us actually do the work together. Right now, we often spend more time figuring out how to work together than doing the work itself,” said Amir Ashkenazi, CEO and Founder of Switchboard. “With Switchboard, you have everything you need side by side: all your workplace tools and most importantly, your people. Our digital coworking space blends the productive elements of remote working, while fostering the human connection we need to thrive.”
Switchboard allows users to both video conference and collaborate on multiple web-based applications — from Google Docs and Figma, to Trello and Jira — in a single virtual room. Instead of toggling between tabs and apps or sharing their screen, users are able to bring all of their materials to a shared space, making working together on the same project as seamlessly as if they were in the office together.
Users can also create permanent shared and private rooms that keep all the apps and files for projects and recurring meetings open for the next time they’re ready to collaborate. Each room has a “meeting memory,” which includes a history of chat threads and the content shared, making meeting prep and wrap-up faster than ever.
“Over the past two years, we’ve all made the best with the tools that were available at the time. And with credit to all of us, we’ve done a brilliant job adapting to the unideal,” Ashkenazi continued. “Now, it’s time to purpose-build tools that fit our needs, and give us back the cognitive space, time, and connection we deserve to do good work.”
Switchboard is currently in use by people with highly-collaborative roles including product, project, and design managers. Features currently include:
- Work together: on the platform, users have access to any web-based applications or tools, as well as their co-workers, side by side, which is made possible by one interactive web browser.
- Never share your screen again: because Switchboard uses secure and fast cloud browsers, there is no need to share your screen to share browser tabs, images, or PDFs.
- Streamline your meeting preparation: content is saved in rooms for daily, weekly, and ongoing meetings. Users no longer have to scramble to find the right links and files because it is stored.
- Trust your tools: the platform uses modern, secure, hosted cloud infrastructure for all its services and storage and stores minimal data. It is also SOC 2 compliant.
Switchboard is backed by Sequoia Capital, XYZ, Spark Capital, and The General Partnership.
“There’s never been a greater opportunity to rethink the way we collaborate online,” said Mike Vernal, partner at Sequoia. “We believe in teams daring enough to build a different way to do things, and Switchboard is doing just that as it reimagines the potential of the virtual and hybrid work environment.”
“Using Switchboard is the first product that has felt truly collaborative in the hybrid world, where teams can do more together faster” says Ross Fubini, founder and managing partner of XYZ. “We’re both rabid users and excited to have made the first investment in the company. We’ve seen our portfolio companies use Switchboard to work with their team and customers to build even faster.”
“Switchboard and The General Partnership both believe the best way to build and scale fast is through group collaboration,” said Daniel Portillo, General Partnership. “In the remote working world, we have been lacking innovative ways to foster these integral and genuine conversations; Switchboard is the first to deliver this virtually.”
Switchboard was founded in 2020 by Amir Ashkenazi and currently holds five patents for their technology. Their world-class team includes alums from Apple, eBay, Samsung, Mozilla, and Dropbox.
Switchboard Beta is currently free to all users who are interested and is now live on Product Hunt.
