Part 2: Promising Crowdfunded Tech Leads (Web/SaaS Products)
Prospective DaaS Leads (Crowdfunded Tech Products)
| Product | Tech Stack Fit | Funding & Status | Open Tech Roles | Key Stakeholders (LinkedIn) | Closeability | Timezone/Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPILL (social app for trending conversations) | Node.js backend + React (mobile/web frontend) – likely uses real-time APIs | Raised $324K so far in Wefunder seed round (target $1.24M, open till Apr 2026) (SPILL on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (SPILL on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Prior VC-backed at $20M valuation | Hiring planned (“proceeds will be used for salaries, hiring, infrastructure…” (SPILL on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd)). Likely seeking full-stack devs as user base grows | CEO Alphonzo “Phonz” Terrell – LinkedIn (Alphonzo Terrell - Co-Founder and CEO - Spill - LinkedIn); Co-founder DeVaris Brown – LinkedIn (ex-Twitter PM) (Twitter is a mess, so former employees are creating Spill as an alternative - TechCrunch) | High – Small team, tech-focused product; needs rapid feature development | Pacific (Sherman Oaks, CA, USA) (SPILL on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) |
| AKALA (ed-tech virtual college counselor) | PHP/Laravel or Node.js backend; React/JS frontend (web platform & AI features) | ~$695K prior + now raising up to $1M on Wefunder (seed) (AKALA on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (AKALA on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). ~$154K committed (as of Mar 2025) (AKALA on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Yes – using funds for engineering hires (AKALA on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). 16 employees now; likely hiring devs to build out platform | Co-founder/CEO Perry Kalmus – LinkedIn; Co-founder/CTO Ori Kalmus – LinkedIn (AKALA, Inc. - LinkedIn) | High – Lean team (2–10), actively raising to expand engineering (AKALA on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Pacific (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (AKALA, Inc. - LinkedIn) |
| Muvr (on-demand moving services app) | Node.js/Express backend with React Native mobile app (gig-work platform) | $1.2M revenue in 2024; currently raising $124K on Wefunder (valued $50M) (Muvr on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (Muvr on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Prior seed rounds likely (founder in Laguna Beach) | Plans to scale tech – funds for “tech enhancements” and expansion (Muvr on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Likely hiring backend engineers and cloud devs | CEO Rico Suarez – LinkedIn (Los Angeles) (Rico Suarez - Founder - Muvr - LinkedIn) | Medium – Strong product fit but high valuation; may have some in-house dev already | Pacific (Los Angeles, CA, USA) (Rico Suarez - Founder - Muvr - LinkedIn) |
| Fluyo (language-learning app & game) | Node.js API + React/Vue frontend; Mobile app (Unity/React Native) | $705K raised on Wefunder seed round (max $1.24M) (Fluyo on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (Fluyo on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd); launched beta Jan 2025 | Actively hiring (posted for Product/UX Engineer in NYC (Fluyo - LinkedIn); also hiring content roles (Fluyo - LinkedIn)). Using funds to hire a Head of Languages (Fluyo on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Co-CEO Ikenna Obi – LinkedIn (NYC) (Ikenna Obi - Fluyo - LinkedIn); CTO Alcuin Guest – LinkedIn (co-founder) | High – Tech-centric product, growing userbase, multiple dev openings (Fluyo - LinkedIn) | Eastern (New York, NY, USA) (Ikenna Obi - Fluyo - LinkedIn) |
| Doorvest (online real-estate investing) | Node.js/TypeScript backend; React web app (fintech platform) | $23M+ raised (VC + crowd). Latest Wefunder round (Mar 2025) closed at $92.6K (Doorvest on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (Doorvest on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd); prior VC-backed ~$23.15M (Doorvest on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Yes – funds earmarked for hiring and ops (Doorvest on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). 11–50 employees; likely open roles in engineering and devops | CEO Andrew Luong – LinkedIn; CTO Justin Kasad – LinkedIn (Justin Huynh, AFC® on LinkedIn: Doorvest Acquires Getaway to …) | Medium – Well-funded; has an in-house team but scaling may require contract devs (Doorvest on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Pacific (San Francisco, CA, USA) (Doorvest on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) |
| pocstock (diverse stock media marketplace) | PHP/Laravel or Node.js backend; React/Angular frontend (content platform) | ~$128K raised on Wefunder in 2023 + now raising up to $1M (pocstock on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (pocstock on Wefunder 2022 - Kingscrowd) (Valuation $48M). $1.1M lifetime sales (pocstock on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Scaling platform development – using funds for “content development and platform dev” (pocstock on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Likely hiring full-stack or frontend engineers to expand features | CEO Steve Jones – LinkedIn; CCO Tamara Fleming – LinkedIn | Medium – Niche B2B platform; has revenue but will need additional dev resources for growth | Eastern (Newark, NJ, USA) (pocstock on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (NYC metro) |
| Runner City (peer P2P delivery/errands app) | MERN/Node.js stack for backend; React Native mobile app | MVP launched in Austin – 8,000 users, $2.5M GMV (Runner City on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Raising up to $618K (seed) on Wefunder; ~$18K in so far (Runner City on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (Runner City on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Yes – explicitly raising to “pay dev team to build the mobile app” and hire a CTO (Runner City on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Critical need for mobile and backend developers | Co-founder Andy Kaminski – LinkedIn; Co-founder/COO Jonathan Schaefer – LinkedIn | High – Very early-stage and tech-dependent; actively staffing tech roles (Runner City on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Central (Austin, TX, USA) (Runner City on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) |
| Loop (California Labs) (family photo sharing + digital frame) | Node.js backend; iOS/Android app + IoT device (hardware + cloud software) | $100K raised in 2024 Wefunder round (Loop on Wefunder 2023 - Kingscrowd) (Loop on Wefunder 2023 - Kingscrowd); ~$3M total via prior SeedInvest & StartEngine rounds (Loop on SeedInvest - Kingscrowd) (Loop on SeedInvest - Kingscrowd). 280K+ users, >$1M revenue (Loop on SeedInvest - Kingscrowd) | Hiring: used funds for “product development” and hiring (Loop on Wefunder 2023 - Kingscrowd). Previous postings for mobile engineers (Android) and firmware/web dev as product expands | CEO Brian Gannon – LinkedIn (Brian Gannon on LinkedIn: Loop: The easiest, most trusted way to …); Head of Engineering Ethan Ballweber – LinkedIn | Medium – Established product with hardware element; may augment team with external web/mobile dev expertise | Pacific (San Francisco, CA, USA) (Loop on SeedInvest - Kingscrowd) |
| Belong (millennial investing platform) | Node.js & React (modern fintech stack; mobile app) | £489K (~$600K) raised Mar 2025 on Crowdcube (Female-led FinTech hits Crowdcube target in under 5 hours) (Female-led FinTech hits Crowdcube target in under 5 hours); previously £2.95M pre-seed VC (Female-led FinTech hits Crowdcube target in under 5 hours). Total >£3.4M funding | Yes – just closed round and immediately hiring a Full-Stack Mobile Engineer (Belong - LinkedIn) (Belong - LinkedIn). Head of Engineering’s post explicitly recruiting software talent | CEO Avion Gray – LinkedIn (Female-led FinTech hits Crowdcube target in under 5 hours); Co-founder Samantha Rosenberg – LinkedIn | High – Strong funding, small team (~24 staff) (Belong - LinkedIn), actively expanding engineering (Belong - LinkedIn) | UK (London, GMT) (Female-led FinTech hits Crowdcube target in under 5 hours) (Belong - LinkedIn) |
| LetsBab (social shopping “digital mall” app) | Node/Express backend; native mobile app (e-commerce sharing platform) | £377.5K raised Jul 2020 on Crowdcube (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?) (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?); exceeded £300K target in days. Continued product development post-crowd | Likely – Stated use of funds: grow user base and add new app features (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?), implying need for frontend/backend devs. May seek partnerships with dev agencies for rapid feature rollout | CEO Bonnie Takhar – LinkedIn; Founder (Product) Yasmin Yusuf – LinkedIn | Medium – Consumer app with moderate traction; could use external dev help to accelerate feature delivery | UK (London, GMT) (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?) |
| EverUp (gamified savings app) | Java/Kotlin or Node backend; React Native app (fintech & gaming mix) | £478.9K raised Nov 2020 on Crowdcube (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?). Used as seed funding to launch product (“746 investors”) | Yes – funds used to “fund operations, accelerate growth” (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?). Likely hired game developers and backend engineers to build out prize-linked savings games | CEO Paolo Sacchi – LinkedIn; CTO Vittorio Vaccaro – LinkedIn | Medium – Fintech with novel twist; had core team but may outsource some game/UX development for speed | UK (St Albans/London, GMT) (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?) |
| Immersed (VR collaboration workspace) | Python/Node backend; C#/Unity for AR/VR clients (high-tech stack) | $2.6M raised (RegCF + RegD) in 2025 Wefunder Series A (Immersed on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (Immersed on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Valuation $200M; extensive press coverage | Yes – raising specifically to hire (building an “AI Curator” and new AR visor) (Immersed on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Will be adding cloud engineers and AI specialists (though VR dev largely in-house) | CEO Renji Bijoy – LinkedIn; CTO Taylor Guerra – LinkedIn | Low – Very specialized AR/AI product; large valuation and likely robust internal dev team (outsourcing less likely) (Immersed on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Central (Austin, TX, USA) |
| Crafter (crafting community & e-learning) | PHP/Laravel or Node backend; React/Angular web app (marketplace + content) | $363K raised on Wefunder (131 investors) (Let your community invest - Wefunder, Home of the Community Round) (Invest in founders building the future - Wefunder, Home of the …); Techstars NYC alum. Growing user base of hobbyist makers | Planned hires – funds for product development and platform scaling. (Founder pitching to invest in Crafter’s growth (Crafter.com Bringing makers of every level together through the art …).) Likely needs full-stack web dev to build marketplace features | Founder/CEO Morgan Spenla – LinkedIn (Techstars alum) (Crafter.com Bringing makers of every level together through the art …) | High – Niche social marketplace with modest team; would benefit from DaaS to accelerate feature rollout | Pacific (San Diego, CA, USA) (Coinvest with Morgan Spenla on Wefunder) |
| Chip (automated savings & wealth app) | Node.js microservices; React Native mobile app (high-scale fintech stack) | £11.5M raised via multiple Crowdcube rounds (The story of Chip - Crowdcube) (largest UK crowdfund to date). Over 500k users, £3B deposits (Chip raised investment - November 2023. - Crowdcube) | Yes – aggressively hiring during scale-up (“tripled the size of the team” in 2020 (Fintech startup raises a total of £10.7m in under 48 hours - Startups Magazine)). Recent funding used to “improve infrastructure” and build new features (Fintech startup raises a total of £10.7m in under 48 hours - Startups Magazine) (Fintech startup raises a total of £10.7m in under 48 hours - Startups Magazine) | CEO Simon Rabin – LinkedIn; CTO Tom Evans – LinkedIn | Medium – Well-funded and growing; has sizable internal team, but might use contract devs for non-core features or overflow work (Fintech startup raises a total of £10.7m in under 48 hours - Startups Magazine) | UK (London, GMT) |
| Ruralis (rural real-estate digital platform) | Java/Node backend; Angular/React frontend (proptech platform) | ~$115K raised so far on Wefunder (seed) (Ruralis on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (Ruralis on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd); val $38M. Revenue $1.55M (2022–24) (Ruralis on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | Yes – using proceeds for product/tech and EU expansion (Ruralis on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd). Likely hiring web developers to enhance property listing portal and UX | Founder Nicolas Peppe Verderosa – LinkedIn; CPO (TBD) – LinkedIn | Medium – Strong niche growth but based in EU (Italy); would consider external devs for faster market entry (Ruralis on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) | CET (Italy, EU) |
| Meeow (online networking video platform) | Node.js backend; WebRTC/video tech frontend (networking app) | Sought £150–400K on Crowdcube in 2020 (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?) (outcome not public; early traction from pandemic demand) | Likely – intended to use funds to “grow user base and hire staff” (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?). Would need full-stack engineers to refine video meetup tech and scale servers | Co-founder Simon Glenn – LinkedIn; Co-founder Victoria Russell – LinkedIn | Medium – Concept proven during 2020; if funded, will require additional dev resources to compete with larger video platforms | UK (Yorkshire, GMT) |
| Substack (writer newsletter platform) | Node.js and Firebase backend; React web app (content platform at scale) | $5M community round on Wefunder (Mar 2023) at $585M valuation ([Substack: $650.00M valuation 2023 - Sacra), as extension of Series B. Huge user base (20M+ ARR) | Yes – though large, Substack opened to community investors to engage users. Continues to hire aggressively (e.g. full-stack engineers, growth engineers) as they expand features | CEO Chris Best – LinkedIn; Head of Growth Harrison Reis – LinkedIn | Low – Very well-funded and sizable internal engineering (crowd round was community-building); unlikely to need outsourced dev, but included due to high-profile raise ([Substack: $650.00M valuation 2023 - Sacra) | Pacific (San Francisco, CA, USA) |
High-Fit Opportunities: Several leads stand out as excellent matches for Atyantik’s Developer-as-a-Service model. Belong and Fluyo are both rapidly scaling platforms built on modern stacks (Node/React) and are actively recruiting engineers (Belong - LinkedIn) (Fluyo - LinkedIn), indicating immediate development needs. SPILL and AKALA have small founding teams and explicitly plan to use newly raised funds for hiring tech talent (SPILL on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) (AKALA on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd) – they offer strong alignment with Atyantik’s JavaScript and PHP expertise. Runner City (Austin) is in MVP stage with funding allocated to building its app and backend (Runner City on Wefunder 2025 - Kingscrowd), making it a prime candidate for outsourced development help. Additionally, Crafter and LetsBab represent niche social platforms in need of fast feature development; their successful crowdfunding and focus on product enhancements (Would you back these 9 tech crowdfunding projects?) (Invest in founders building the future - Wefunder, Home of the …) suggest openness to external development support. These high-fit companies all operate in time zones overlapping with Atyantik’s, facilitating real-time collaboration. Leveraging their recent momentum and funding, Atyantik’s DaaS can accelerate their roadmaps while they build out in-house teams, making the likelihood of closing these leads high. Other prospects listed (e.g. the fintech Chip or the large-scale Substack) have more established teams, so while they have significant tech budgets, the immediate need for external developers is lower (medium/low closability). Overall, focusing on the High closability targets – the likes of Belong, Fluyo, SPILL, AKALA, Runner City, and Crafter – will yield the best alignment with Atyantik’s stack and services, given their current hiring drives and technical requirements. Each of these companies has both the means (funding) and the motive (product growth goals) to engage Atyantik’s Developer-as-a-Service for swift, scalable development support.