Peec, one of Berlin’s rising startups, more than doubled annualized revenue in months to $10M, sources say
Peec, one of Berlin’s rising startups, more than doubled annualized revenue in months to $10M, sources say
柏林新星初创公司 Peec：据消息人士透露，其年化收入在数月内翻了一番，达到 1000 万美元
One of Berlin’s rising-star, early stage startups, Peec AI, just crossed $10 million in annualized revenue, according to internal dashboard data seen and verified by TechCrunch. Peec AI raised its $21 million Series A six months ago. While CEO Marius Meiners wouldn’t disclose its valuation to me at that time (only revealing that it was above $100 million), he did say the startup had grown its revenue to more than $4 million in the 10 months since its launch. So, it has more than doubled its revenue trajectory, and at a faster pace.
据 TechCrunch 查看并核实的内部仪表板数据显示，柏林早期初创公司中的新星 Peec AI 的年化收入刚刚突破 1000 万美元。Peec AI 在六个月前完成了 2100 万美元的 A 轮融资。虽然首席执行官 Marius Meiners 当时并未向我透露其估值（仅表示超过 1 亿美元），但他确实提到，该公司在成立后的 10 个月内，收入已增长至超过 400 万美元。这意味着，其收入增长轨迹不仅翻了一番，而且速度还在加快。
Peec helps brands track and improve their visibility in AI searches. While based in Berlin, it recently opened an office in New York. It’s also serving as proof of one of the key market shifts happening in Europe’s tech scene. “Founders these days track revenue much more closely,” Antler partner Christoph Klink was telling me just a couple of days ago. Sitting in a hotel lobby bar during an event-laden week for the tech ecosystem, the Berlin-based VC had offhand mentioned Peec AI as one of the most successful companies in his portfolio, alongside Lovable and others.
Peec 旨在帮助品牌追踪并提升其在人工智能搜索中的可见度。尽管总部位于柏林，但该公司最近在纽约开设了办事处。它也成为了欧洲科技界正在发生的关键市场转变的例证。Antler 合伙人 Christoph Klink 几天前曾对我说：“如今的创始人对收入的追踪要密切得多。” 在科技生态系统活动密集的这一周，这位常驻柏林的风险投资人在酒店大堂吧闲谈时，将 Peec AI 与 Lovable 等公司一起列为他投资组合中最成功的公司之一。
My next question was how he defined success, which led to a discussion of recent market cycles. Compared to six years ago, he said, the big change is that success is now defined by growth, not valuation. Having learned lessons from 2021’s frothiness and subsequent painful return to reality, investors now know that revenue can’t be an afterthought. The corollary is that it isn’t something you can just check on every couple of weeks, Klink told me. Startups now tend to keep running dashboards on revenue progress, sometimes — as is the case at Peec — visible to all employees.
我随后的问题是他如何定义成功，这引发了关于近期市场周期的讨论。他说，与六年前相比，最大的变化在于成功现在是由增长而非估值来定义的。在吸取了 2021 年市场泡沫及其后痛苦回归现实的教训后，投资者现在明白收入不能是事后才考虑的事情。Klink 告诉我，由此得出的结论是，收入不是每隔几周检查一次就能应付的。初创公司现在倾向于保持运行收入进度仪表板，有时——正如 Peec 的情况——这些数据对所有员工都是可见的。
For some founders, this has required some adjusting; but others were born just for this new cycle. Peec AI’s product takes the same approach as SEO dashboards, except it helps brands track generative engine optimization (GEO) — visualizing whether they show up when users type a certain set of prompts into ChatGPT and the like. But as Meiners then told me, he is also a former esports athlete who once ranked among the top 100 League of Legends players. This explains why he would share a revenue tracker with his whole company: his background gave him a unique take on what makes a winning team.
对于一些创始人来说，这需要进行一些调整；但另一些人则是为这个新周期而生的。Peec AI 的产品采用了与 SEO 仪表板相同的方法，不同之处在于它帮助品牌追踪生成式引擎优化（GEO）——即可视化展示当用户在 ChatGPT 等工具中输入特定提示词时，品牌是否会出现。但正如 Meiners 随后告诉我的，他也是一名前电子竞技选手，曾跻身《英雄联盟》全球前 100 名玩家之列。这解释了他为何会与全公司分享收入追踪器：他的背景使他对如何打造一支获胜团队有着独特的见解。
Talent is the first ingredient, and Peec AI took an innovative approach to hiring in Berlin’s competitive market. Like many startups in the Bay Area, but very few in Europe, it invested in billboards to pitch itself not only to prospective clients, but also to applicants. In our conversation, Klink had recalled with a smile that these billboards were more often than not strategically placed in front of other tech companies across the city. What those billboards say may differ, but they are part of a narrative that attempts to position Peec AI as a company worth jumping ship for.
人才是第一要素，Peec AI 在柏林竞争激烈的市场中采取了创新的招聘方式。像许多湾区的初创公司一样（但在欧洲却很少见），它投资了广告牌，不仅向潜在客户推销自己，也向求职者展示自己。在我们的谈话中，Klink 微笑着回忆道，这些广告牌往往被战略性地放置在城市中其他科技公司的门前。这些广告牌上的内容可能各不相同，但它们都是一种叙事的一部分，旨在将 Peec AI 定位为一家值得跳槽加入的公司。
According to Klink, this signaling is particularly important in the current AI cycle, where companies and investors are piggybacking on trends that are only just emerging — such as AI search. This bet on undercurrents applies to many startups Klink has invested in, which is why he understands why portfolio companies like Peec AI — and Lovable — not only closely track ARR, but also sometimes publicly disclose revenue milestones despite having absolutely no obligation to do so. “That’s a way to show it’s working,” Klink said. “It also shows a focus on growth that sets the culture.”
据 Klink 所言，这种信号传递在当前的人工智能周期中尤为重要，因为公司和投资者都在利用刚刚兴起的趋势——例如人工智能搜索。这种对潜在趋势的押注适用于 Klink 投资的许多初创公司，这也是他理解为什么像 Peec AI 和 Lovable 这样的投资组合公司不仅密切追踪年度经常性收入（ARR），而且有时会主动披露收入里程碑的原因，尽管他们完全没有义务这样做。“这是一种展示公司运作良好方式，” Klink 说，“这也体现了一种塑造企业文化的增长导向。”