Innovative browser collaboration technology Go Instant launches in private beta today at TechCrunch Disrupt, for the first time allowing people to surf the web with each other without having to download an extra plugin or software.
Whether you are on a Mac, PC, mobile device like iOS, Android, Blackberry or any other web browsing device, Go Instant lets users who want to collaborate with each other on a given URL share a link and initiate a co-browsing session.
Co-founders Uhma and Jevon MacDonald are technology veterans MacDonald coming off a stint as senior partner at Dachis Group and Uhma is former CTO of social gaming startup Slightly Social. Using Node.js, Socket.io and Redis, the fact that the Go Instant doesn’t necessitate a download or any special software is significant.
Co-founder Gavin Uhma tells me that the consumer use case for the app is in software as a service, easy and automatic co-browsing could be very useful in company wide presentations and customer support, “Rather than explaining your product to someone, you sign up, login and you can show them how to use it,” Uhma says.
Uhma considers his competitors to be screensharing and collaboration tools like WebEx, join.me, Glance, GoToMeeting but holds that what differentiates GoInstant is that it was built for the web not for a PC; its technology works rapidly and in full web page resolution by design.
GoInstant plans on monetizing by charging companies a set fee per user per month.
The company just raised a hefty round of seed funding which they are also announcing today, at $1.7 million from Freestyle Capital, Baseline Ventures, Greylock Partners, Social Leverage, Chamath Palihapitya, Ed Sim and Yuri Milner.
Q&A with judges Yossi Vardi, Mark Suster, Google’s Wesley Chan, Quora’s Rebecca Cox, Causes’ Joe Green
MS: I think the biggest thing for you is figuring out how your go to market strategy will work
A: We’ve considered that.
WC: I’m excited about this, it’s about identifying who wants to use it. I hate Web Ex.
A: Every VC says the same thing regarding Web Ex.
AC: Can you talk about the interface?
A: We really wanted to keep this as simple as we could .
JC: Am I able to block to the technology so other people can’t join? Are you Canadian?
A: You can manage the session with privacy controls, etc. And yes, I am Canadian.
Presentation:
Backstage interview: