We Lived the Problem for Two Decades
We spent over twenty years running events and building systems before we started building the tool we wish we'd had.
Ali Taghavi
Co-Founder, Business Development — Germany
Ali has organized over 80 festivals, workshops, and multi-day events across Europe. He built SwingStep into one of the largest Swing Dance education companies on the continent, scaling it to nearly 20 employees and events with over 1,200 participants.
Along the way, he lived every coordination failure firsthand: the spreadsheet that didn't reach the stage manager, the 2 AM email with "v14_FINAL_final" in the subject line, the production knowledge that walked out the door when a key team member left.
Before events, Ali spent six years in pharmaceutical research at TU Darmstadt, developing compounds for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. That scientific background shaped how he thinks about systems: if something fails, it's data for improvement, not a reason to blame someone.
James Kibblewhite
Co-Founder, Product Development — UK
James has spent 25 years building backend systems across industries where reliability is the baseline. At GlobeCast, he spent nearly a decade architecting satellite communication systems and real-time media workflows. A dropped signal there meant a lost broadcast.
He went on to build music discovery services integrated with IBM Watson at Quantone, network load testing software at Aeroflex, and health risk assessment platforms at Cigna.
That background, spanning satellite communications, AI-driven music engines, telecom infrastructure, and health-tech, is what sits under MergeLabs. The architecture patterns James applies to event coordination are the same ones used in industries where downtime has serious consequences.
Ali and James originally connected through the international Lindy Hop dance community. Both were internationally recognized dance teachers and competitors across Europe. They started collaborating on SwingStep's technology in 2016 and co-founded MergeLabs in 2023.
The Wall Every Organizer Hits
Every event organizer we know runs into the same wall. The schedule lives in one spreadsheet. The tasks live in another. The guest information sits in a third. And the only person who knows how all these connect is the one person who can't afford to be unavailable.
We built MergeLabs because we hit that wall ourselves, over and over, across 80+ events. We watched production knowledge disappear when team members moved on. We watched smart people spend their energy on version control instead of creative decisions. And we watched events get simplified because the coordination was too hard to manage with generic tools.
MergeLabs exists to fix the infrastructure layer underneath all of that.
Unlocking Operational Capacity
We help you create incredible experiences by giving you tools designed specifically for coordination management challenges.
The MergeLabs platform brings schedules, runsheets, tasks, notes, alerts, and conversations into one central coordination data hub. This gives you a single source of truth for everybody involved, a way to capture your team's tacit knowledge, and a clearer overview of your entire event portfolio.
The result: your software supports continuous improvements, faster staff onboarding, and the ability to re-run playbooks that work.
Handle Complexity With Ease
"Ask not how to simplify your event, ask how to master complexity with ease to create something remarkable."
— Ali Taghavi
Bringing people together takes a lot of energy. Instead of forcing simplicity, which often means leaving impact on the table, we want to help you handle complexity with ease. And, we want to help you capture those opportunities to create more impactful experiences.
Spreading Enriched Environments
During Ali's time as an Alzheimer's researcher, he became fascinated by the concept of "Enriched Environments," stimulating experiences that, in rodents, significantly regenerated neurons and helped prevent dementia and depression. For the past twenty years, he has dedicated his life to creating these environments worldwide.
This startup is the next evolution of that mission. By streamlining operational complexity, we provide the tools needed to craft meaningful, immersive experiences, ensuring more people can benefit from truly transformative events.
For Investors
We believe the category of "Real-time Coordination Management Solution" is vastly underserved and ready for a dedicated solution. We have a clear "Why now" and a founding team with a strong "Why." Towards the end of 2026 we will raise our next funding round. If you wish to connect before then, please reach out.
For Developers
Our software is built on C# across the entire tech stack. Contrary to common startup advice, we invested in a strong foundation from the start. Tasks are taken, not assigned. We work fully remote without routine travel. If you are an experienced C# developer, we would love to show you our code base.
Let's Grab a Digital Coffee Together
Considering our solution for your event? Want to know about our roadmap? Want to know more about us?