The Blabu platform is updating its focus and we have decided to help.
Michala Gregorová
Prague, 6 October 2020 – Coronavirus has motivated many professionals to move their services online. Many have lost the opportunity to meet their clients in person, so in order to make a living they need to adapt their service delivery. The globally ambitious Czech start-up Blabu is changing its focus to enable professionals to deliver their services virtually with ease. With just a few clicks of the mouse, anyone can set up their online office – even a technology novice.
- The new Blabu will be a platform for teachers, coaches, mentors, trainers, and therapists.
- In addition to its existing video chat function, the new Blabu will include a reservation system, a tool for ongoing communication with clients, and the ability to accept payments online.
- Thanks to Blabu, setting up a professional office will be a matter of only a few mouse clicks.
Professional service providers who want to consult, teach or communicate with their clients online need a range of tools beyond a simple video connection: a reservation system, a payment option, and a tool to facilitate ongoing communication – during and after a lesson. Daunted by the magnitude of the task to set up a professional presence online, many professionals give up. And that’s a shame, as online services are in high demand – thanks in part to COVID-19.
Blabu, a platform led by Petr Kováčik and initially developed to serve as an online language school, has recently come up with a great solution. After facilitating more than 15,000 English language conversations with native English speakers, starting from mid-October Blabu will offer online solutions for service providers across a number of professions.
“Over the past year we’ve developed a very sophisticated product, and after 15,000 conversations on the Blabu platform we are confident with what we have to offer,” says Petr Kováčik about the development process. “And that’s why we have decided to enhance the platform with additional functions in order to offer professionals a one-stop-shop for managing their services online,” adds Kováčik.
The “new” Blabu will mainly target language teachers, but its functionality will be suitable for anyone who provides teaching, training, and consultation services by the hour – teachers, mentors, trainers, coaches, consultants and nutritional therapists to name a few. “With just a few clicks, professional service providers can set-up a fully functioning virtual office, with a presentation of their services, a planning tool, a virtual room for teaching, coaching or consultation sessions, and an online payment facility. With Blabu, professional service providers will gain an easy option for accepting payments with credit or debit cards,” explains Kováčik.
In their new venture, Blabu founders Petr Kováčik and Tomáš Strejček will be supported by Miton with an investment amounting to nearly 10 million Czech crowns.
“When you want to sell something online, you don’t develop your own online shop, but hire a ready-made solution. Professionals who make a living by sharing their knowledge and experience should be able to do the same when they move into the online space, regardless of their own technical know-how. COVID-19 has highlighted this need and made it even more pressing,” explains Miton’s partner Michal Jirák the reasons for Miton’s investment in Blabu.
More about Blabu
- Blabu started in January 2019 as an online language school focused on facilitating English language conversations with native speakers around the world.
- In its first year of operation, Blabu gained 1,000 paying customers and 13,000 registered users and facilitated over 15,000 conversations with 150 native speakers.
- The New Blabu is a Saas Business in a Box (BiaB) solution. The customer is not the person seeking a service, but the professional who wants to provide their services online.
- The cost of the service will start with a monthly subscription fee of US$25. In addition, online payments will incur a small transaction fee.
- The first 500 registered users will be able to use Blabu free of charge for the first six months.
- The service aims for 2,000 paying professionals within the first year of its launch.
Share
Of further interest
New addition to Miton C: Filip Široký
What will 2024 look like in crypto? The team at our web3 fund Miton C is optimistic, and it’s growing too. We're bolstering our ranks with Filip Široký, who joins us as a Research Partner.
-PA6y.avif)
How Glami became a European player in online fashion: 5 key ingredients
It is one of those highly successful technology companies well-known among insiders but not seen that often in the media. In 10 years, Glami has become the largest search engine and online catalogue of fashion goods and accessories. It operates in 13 countries, and its customers place almost half a million orders a month. Thanks to Glami, online fashion stores will add CZK 4 billion to their sales this year. Of course, Glami, now led by CEO Ján Kešelák, didn't become a prominent and profitable international company by chance.
Change in Donio. Livesport takes over the baton from Miton.
(Press Release) Czech technology company Livesport is expanding its philanthropic activities. The world's leading provider of fast sports news has become a new partner of the online platform Donio, through which it is easy to set up a charity fundraiser or start a project and keep 100% of the funds raised. Donio has already raised more than 800 million CZK for charity and Livesport wants to help continue its growth in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.