South African startup Spacedecode has launched its EngineOne software platform, aimed at increasing understanding and reducing friction between technical and non-technical team members on software projects by combining code and project management into one simple tool.
Launched in Pretoria in 2013, Spacedecode relocated to Cape Town last year after raising seed funding from internet service provider RSAWEB.
It has now released EngineOne, which aims to optimise companies’ software development workflow by providing a software project management platform that unites technical and non-technical people.
The platform combines code management – similar to Github – and project management – similar to Trello – to allow software teams to use one platform without the technical jargon. It provides visibility in teams as to who is doing what and how long they have been working on the task.
Developers can use EngineOne to host source code and manage team collaborations, while non-technical team members can use the platform to assign and track tasks.
“Decisions regarding task priority can now be made unanimously through EngineOne’s voting system. Teams can now vote a task up or down to indicate priority. Tasks with more votes are automatically moved to the top of the list,” Nkosana Mabuza, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) of Spacedecode told Disrupt Africa.
Mabuza said while there are many software tools offered by different vendors to help optimise software development workflow, Spacedecode’s competitors build tools for technical users and non-technical users separately, forcing them to tool-hop every time they work.
“This in turn separates teams and has a negative impact on the software development workflow. EngineOne was built to unite teams and give them a single point of interaction. Non-technical people will now have a view of what technical people are doing and vice-versa, using a single tool,” he said.
The startup raised more than ZAR500,000 (US$36,000) to build the platform and is now looking to raise ZAR5 million (US$360,000) to expand its user base and hire developers to accelerate its development.
“After introducing our software in South Africa early this year, we have gone on to validate the solution outside of the country,” said Mabuza.
“EngineOne was launched in Seattle in the United States and had more than 60 active users in only three weeks. To date, our user base is predominantly American, Mozambican, South African and Asian.”
