“A big milestone”: the Pitch winner Amy Benson on Diolog’s hard launch

Diolog, the investor relations startup founded by Amy Benson, has today announced its official launch. “Today is a big milestone for Diolog,” Benson told SmartCompany.

The move comes after a few months of beta testing with existing client businesses including Playup. Benson said today’s “hard launch” means “being confident in our offering”.

In February, Diolog won SmartCompany‘s early-stage startup competition the Pitch.

“From the Pitch, we had really good feedback that let us know there are two things that we need prior to a hard launch,” Benson said. “Number one, tech validation – making sure the tech is strong and the product’s there.

“And the second is the consumer validation.

“The last six months and over the period of beta testing, we’ve really been able to get that consumer validation.

“We identified our key problems in the market, and the beta testing process has just solidified those.”

Billing itself as the ‘world’s first two-way investor communications software’, Diolog aims to help strengthen business-investor relations.

“It should be as easy to communicate with a company as it is to buy their shares online,” Benson said.

“The archaic processes long held by the industry are leading to a lack of trust from investors. They’re also impacting retention as businesses struggle to understand and respond to shareholder needs, which opens companies up to considerable communication risks.”

Diolog will expand its services to private companies in the coming months. It currently offers a freemium model, with an option to upgrade to a premium package.

Back in June, Benson shared her pitching advice for early-stage startup founders. At the time, she said “I’ve loved watching companies like Employment Hero and Dovetail grow. Whether it’s customer insights or HR communications, both companies do an incredible job of providing a holistic view of data and insights in a neat and easy-to-use package for businesses and consumers.”

Similarly at Diolog, Benson said, “we’re for breaking free from the shackles of legacy systems and providing businesses and investors with the tools they need to make investor communications better.”

The February panel of VC judges chose Benson and Diolog as the Pitch winner thanks to her “explosive” pitch.