Pith.li wants to let you highlight the best bits of the Web

Each week we’re profiling one company that has been selected for Boost – our early-stage startup growth program. Catch up with these companies in person at The Next Web Conference Europe on April 23 & 24.

Antwerp-based startup Pith.li had a simple inspiration: that yellow marker pen probably lurking somewhere on your desk right now. Its aim is to become “the yellow marker for the digital age”, giving you better tools to highlight, comment on and add notes to any website or article.

Pith.li’s tools allow you to mark individual words or highlight entire sentences or paragraphs. You can then annotate your highlights and share a direct Web link with your thoughts.

The team is also building channels to collate annotated articles across particular topics such as politics, sports or showbiz. You can follow individual Pith.li users and channels, and check out the most followed profiles and topics.

The company’s business model is easy to grasp. It’s making highlighting and sharing freemium, with a range of premium options for power users and enterprise. Paid features will include the option to collaborate on annotations in private, archiving for articles and the ability to upload existing documents.

We spoke to Pith.li co-founder, Lev Detrez, to find out more about what the four-person team is working on.

Tell us what you do in two sentences.

Pith.li is the yellow marker for the digital age. We help you to highlight the essence.

What’s your origin story? How did the company get started?

While working a previous project, we had a personal need for a solution like Pith.li.

Who’s your biggest rival and why are you better than them?

Some browser extensions or add-ons. Pith.li doesn’t require any installation, has a better user experience and is basically just more awesome.

Get rich or change the world – which is more important and why?

First change the world, then sell out and get rich. That should be the exact order.

Tell us one weird fact about a member of your team.

Last time we went to Amsterdam we ended up butt-naked in a hot tub on top of the Volkshotel. Yes, drunk, of course. Ah, start-up life.

6. What does success look like for Pith.li? 

See question four.

You can request an invite to Pith.li’s beta now.

➤ Pith.li