Modern, digitally connected things are brilliant because they’re malleable: they can be shaped, reshaped, and tweaked until they’re as fantastic as we can make them. This adaptability, combined with the fact that most designers today prefer prototypes to theories, is most likely the primary reason why product and service experiences have improved considerably in recent years.
A pre-seed round
Noodl is one such startup that empowers developers and designers to accelerate the development of web-based technologies. This Swedish startup has now raised a €1.5M pre-seed round of financing from the European fund, 42CAP, an industry-specialized German fund based in Munich.
Founded by Anders Larsson, James Haliburton, Mikael Tellhed and Michael Cartner, Noodl is a no-code software platform enabling people to build and ship powerful web apps without losing the product or technical vision. It was first conceptualised and developed within the cutting-edge design and innovation business Topp. Topp and The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), who released mobile UI software in over 1 billion devices, designed Android for Google, and was eventually acquired by BlackBerry, are among the founding team members.
“Having worked on defining groundbreaking apps, design systems, platforms, campaigns, and operating systems for around twenty Fortune 100 customers, we needed a professional platform to bring that software to life without code and without sacrificing the UX or technical features. This simply didn’t exist, so we created Noodl to solve this problem,” – Anders Larsson, Co-founder and Head of Product.
Noodl CEO, James Haliburton, says, “No-code doesn’t go far enough. Noodl doesn’t just believe in not being code. We believe in being better than code.”
Expanding the reach, “This fundraising round will allow us to reach and support more users on the platform. We are continuously growing our third-party integration capabilities and making continuous improvements to Noodl’s unique capabilities, new hosting options, and workflows,” says Haliburton.
Julian von Fischer, from 42CAP, says: “We are currently experiencing a paradigm shift of how applications are built, allowing design programmers to create full-production apps within days instead of months. Noodl was the first solution we have seen enabling developers in enhancing their abilities rather than placing them into a walled garden, limiting the outcomes to simple prototypes. We were immediately excited and impressed about the powerful platform the team has built in the past years and are looking forward to the common journey.”
Here’s why Noodl is different
Noodl is different from the current generation of no-code on-rails platforms because it gives users a lot of design and technical control for both front-end and back-end development, as well as all logic and data management.
It’s also a good idea to use javascript to extend Noodl. Nike, Walmart, GSK, Samsung, and a wide range of startups and consultancies have all used Noodl for innovative application development, MVPs, and prototyping, and this control has proven vital.
Noodl allows users to construct unique applications using a powerful visual programming language (rather than code or step-by-step forms). Non-coders may design and deploy applications using the building pieces, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes, such as visuals, logic, data, and third-party modules.
The platform is full-stack, with a database built-in and a growing library of modules (plug-ins) that include Mapbox, GraphQL, Zapier, Google Sheets, and animation and design systems.
The startup competes with Zordix, Gigway, NewGlue, bubble.io, outsystems and appgyver.
