Forecast raises $5.5 million to take tedium out of project management

Forecast, the Copenhagen-based startup applying AI to project management, has raised a $5.5 million funding round led by Crane Venture Partners, along with existing investors SEED Capital and Heartcore. By automating manual tasks, adding predictive capabilities, and providing more visibility among teams, Forecast’s project management software has saved customers time and improved collaboration and workflow. In fact, customers report administrative tasks go down by 20-40% while insight into project risk and resource management go up. Like many great tech solutions, the SaaS software was born of the creator’s frustration in his own experience. Founder and CEO Dennis Kayser worked as a consultant for many years and grew tired of all the administrative tedium involved in reporting hours, updating deadlines, and other necessary tasks. He commented on Forecast’s potential impact with this new investment: "We've already seen project management enter the digital age, moving from notepads and whiteboards to spreadsheets and task management lists. With Forecast, project management is poised for its next evolution with automation and insights, freeing project managers to instead focus on strategic activities like planning, resource and relationship management.” Thanks to some choice integrations, the software fits seamlessly into users’ existing workflows and has so far helped manage more than 40,000 projects around the world. Since the company’s start in 2016, the customer base has grown steadily without any outbound marketing; annual revenue growth has even seen a triple digit increase. No doubt those numbers were a draw for the new investors. Krishna Visvanathan of Crane Venture Partners said, "We have been extremely impressed with the Forecast team and are excited to back the company for its next stage of growth. With deep insights into its customers' needs and new data on how to improve project management, we see great potential for Forecast to help millions of businesses improve their operations, client relations and more around the world." With the funding, the Danish startup will hire across engineering, product, sales, customer success and marketing, growing its 38-person team and opening a new sales office in London early next year.