6Wunderkinder
6Wunderkinder is a company.
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About
6Wunderkinder is a company.
Financial History
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Leadership Team
Key people at 6Wunderkinder.
6Wunderkinder is a company.
6Wunderkinder is a company.
Key people at 6Wunderkinder.
Key people at 6Wunderkinder.
6Wunderkinder was a Berlin-based startup founded in 2009-2010 that developed Wunderlist, a cloud-based task management app for creating and sharing to-do lists across devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, and smartwatches.[1][2][4] It served individuals and teams seeking simple, collaborative productivity tools, solving the problem of fragmented task management in a mobile-first world with features like real-time sync, attachments, and task assignments in its free and Pro versions.[1][4][5] The company achieved rapid growth, reaching 1 million users in nine months, over 5 million downloads by 2012, and 13 million users by its 2015 acquisition by Microsoft, which integrated it into their productivity portfolio alongside Office and OneNote.[1][2][3][5]
6Wunderkinder—meaning "6 child prodigies" in German—was founded in Berlin around 2009-2010 by six friends: Christian Reber (CEO), Charlette Prevot, Daniel Marschner, Jan Martin, Robert Kock, and Sebastian Scheerer.[1][2] Reber, inspired to reinvent project management, initially sought partners via XING; investor Frank Thelen responded, providing seed funding alongside High-Tech Gründerfonds and e42 GmbH (100,000 euros initially).[1][4] The team first aimed for Wunderkit, an all-in-one productivity suite merging tasks, notes, and collaboration, but released Wunderlist in November 2010 as a teaser to maintain momentum amid development delays.[1][2]
Wunderlist exploded overnight, hitting 1 million users in nine months—faster than Twitter or Foursquare—thanks to its intuitive design and cross-platform support, including a native Linux app driven by user demand.[1][2] Early traction fueled further funding: 500,000 euros from High-Tech Gründerfonds (2010), $4.2 million Series A from Atomico (2011), stake transfer to Earlybird (2012), and $19 million Series B led by Sequoia (2013).[3][4] Pivotal moments included Wunderlist 2/Pro (collaboration upgrades) and Wunderlist 3 (2014, redesigned UI).[1]
6Wunderkinder rode the mobile-first, cloud-first productivity wave in the early 2010s, capitalizing on smartphone proliferation and demand for seamless, cross-device task apps amid fragmented tools.[2][5] Its timing was ideal: post-iPhone era, pre-Slack/Asana dominance, filling gaps in simple, beautiful to-do management while Microsoft pivoted to cloud (Office 365, acquisitions like Sunrise/Acompli).[3][5] Berlin's startup scene benefited immensely—6Wunderkinder was the first local firm to secure Sequoia funding, proving the city as a European tech hub and inspiring a startup boom.[2]
Market forces like investor enthusiasm for productivity (e.g., Series B from Sequoia/Earlybird/Atomico) and user shift to collaborative apps propelled it; Microsoft’s 2015 acquisition validated its ecosystem influence, folding Wunderlist into enterprise tools and boosting Berlin's global cred.[3][5]
Post-2015 Microsoft acquisition, 6Wunderkinder effectively sunset as Wunderlist was phased out by 2020 in favor of Microsoft To Do, leveraging its tech for broader integrations.[2][4] Looking ahead, its legacy endures in modern task apps (e.g., Zenkit, Todoist evolutions), with founder Christian Reber's influence persisting via new ventures. Trends like AI-driven productivity (e.g., auto-prioritization) and hybrid work will shape successors, amplifying 6Wunderkinder's early bet on intuitive, collaborative tools that turned six prodigies' dream into a productivity revolution.[1][2][5]
