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A Successful Online Business – How to Start One

Online Business

When it comes to the topic of starting a new online business, most entrepreneurs think that trial and error is the way to go but this isn’t so.  A number of experienced business people can give you details as to what went right during their venture into the world of startups, and what went horribly wrong. Based on these assessments, there are certain combinations of practices that, if done right, can result in starting a successful business. Here’s what most online business owners swear by.

Analyzing the Market

Nowadays, the market is somewhat similar across the world so it doesn’t take much time for a certain need to go global. That’s why you’ll need to look into your market for shortages before you can think of a product and assess whether it has an unfulfilled demand in the market. Scour the internet to find answers to your questions.

Have a look at common online forums like Quora and Reddit for people’s questions about the availability of a certain service and product to solve a particular problem. Look for keywords that have a high number of queries but much fewer valuable results. This will be an indication of a market that doesn’t have enough solutions.

Of course, you will have a few competitors in the field so it’s best to examine their marketing strategies and products before you start working on your own versions. This will help you create something innovative that adds more value for the consumer.

Post Good Content

Are you worried about how you’ll convince customers through an online sales call? Here’s what you need to explain so they go through with the entire process, up until the final purchase.

  • Give headings that pique consumer interest
  • Address the problem that your brand can solve
  • Ensure your reliability by giving details of your experience and the people on your team
  • Provide testimonials of happy customers
  • Make a good offer
  • Provide them with a guarantee so they feel reassured
  • Make it a matter of urgency so they can’t refuse
  • Make the sale

While walking your customer through the website, make sure that you’re focusing on their need and how you’re helping them.

Deliver a Proper Website

For a business that operates solely online, a website serves as a headquarters and you sure as heck can’t compromise on the quality of yours. Take it from online selling pros, most retail brands keep their websites fairly simple; they know that they have less than 15 seconds to capture consumer attention, which means a smaller business like your has less than 10. So remember:

  • No funky colors or fonts; clear, dark fonts on white works well enough
  • Make it simple to navigate to and from pages
  • Grasp consumer attention on every page with interesting images and videos
  • Collect e-mail addresses from visiting traffic to give updates on sales
  • Shorten the number of clicks it takes to confirm a transaction; one to add card details and one to confirm
  • Optimize it for mobile devices

Search Engine Help

Operating a business online requires that you be on good terms with the search engines, especially reigning power, Google. Using a PPC (pay per click) scheme to advertise your new business is effective at drawing more traffic towards your website. This will work much quicker than waiting for organic traffic to trickle in.

Advertising through Google AdWords’ Network Display strategies gives the benefit of your brand’s banners being up within a matter of hours. Moreover, utilizing such a system offers the benefit of letting you test how effective other keywords are for driving more traffic.

Once you’ve determined which keywords work best, you can then incorporate them into your advertisements, social media posts and most importantly, your website. This will boost your rankings on SERPs.

Be a Leading Authority in Your Niche

Aside from being your source of income, the internet serves as the population’s largest source of authentic information in a hundred different forms. If you appeal to the people looking for information, and not just those who set out to make a purchase, you end up building traction among a larger group of people.

Hence, lure in information-seekers by giving your expertise-based articles on different websites. You can create other forms of content, such as videos, info graphics, and images that are sure to make an impact on readers who might end up making a purchase later on. On every informative piece, add the option for them to share it with their friends.

Be active on the very platforms where your target audience asks questions relating to your field, and answer them. After all, what’s more, appealing than a CEO who actively answers questions on the internet?

Leverage Email Marketing

When you give visiting traffic the option to submit their email addresses, you get a valuable list of potential customers who have opened the doors to their inboxes for you. Essentially, it indicates that they have developed an interest in your brand, are willing to form a long-term relationship with your brand.

Individuals who visit your website and leave their email address are basically giving you permission to contact them. They are potential customers and email marketing is the best way to follow up with leads.

Enhance Customer Loyalty

Customers look for value wherever they go and that’s what you need to offer. It’s quite possible that over a quarter of people who made a purchase from your website would be willing to do it again if you contact them again with a good deal.

The first sale you make is the most crucial but it’s also expensive. Hence, you’ll need to offer them related items that go well with their purchase and send redeemable coupons to ensure that they return. If you reward them with incentives to buy again, your customers are sure to be loyal to your brand.

Even though the online-world is faced paced and dynamic, it isn’t the case for markets and businesses that are operating through the internet. The basic aspects of starting a profitable online business are still the same as before.

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SBA Loan Types and FICO Minimums

SBA

Lots of talk on what position lenders take when offering SBA programs. Lots of different banks that are approved for SBA programs have different criteria. This is based on the risk level the bank wants to take. The SBA generally guarantees about 50% of the bank funds. This makes it attractive for banks to offer better incentives to businesses. Start-up businesses are also welcome and can sometimes qualify on lower FICO scores for what SBA calls Micro Loans. Usually, SBA minimums are around 620-640+ with a good Business Plan and a $50 max amount. Here are other Minimums broken down for existing businesses:

SBA 7(a) 650+

SBA 7(a) Express Loans 650+

SBA CDC/504 Loans 680+

SBA CAPLines Program 660+

SBA Export Loans 660+

SBA Microloans 620-640+

SBA 7(a) Loans

These are the most common SBA loans and generally what people think of when they think of an SBA loan. It’s a general loan that businesses can use for almost any purpose. Unfortunately, they’re also among the toughest to qualify for, with an estimated SBA loan credit score minimum of 650.

SBA 7(a) Express Loan

Designed for small businesses that need a smaller amount of cash (up to $1 million until Sept. 30, 2021, then $500,000 after that) in a faster amount of time, the SBA Express loan is not much easier to qualify for and has similar qualification requirements to the regular SBA 7(a) loan.

SBA CDC/504 Loan

SBA CDC/504 Loan is designed to help businesses buy owner-occupied commercial real estate or heavy equipment. Most people who qualify have a 680+ credit score minimum and require a 10% down payment on the purchase.

SBA CAPLines Program

This is essentially an SBA line of credit designed to meet short-term or seasonal working capital needs. You can generally qualify with a credit score of 660 or higher with short-term collateral such as unpaid invoices, receivables, or other collateral.

SBA Export Loans

SBA Export loans are designed to help small businesses fund new exporting operations with cash flow solutions that allow more flexible terms to international customers. By proving a viable export operation, you can qualify for this loan with a credit score minimum of 660.

SBA Microloans

Microloans are small loans (up to $50,000) with softer credit score requirements (a minimum of around 620-640) than other SBA loans. You’ll also need to provide some collateral that could cover the loan amount and a sound business plan.

SBA can be a powerful alternative for financing and raising capital. Funded.com has a Lender Match program to match startups and existing businesses with SBA programs and conventional lenders. You can sign up for a free trial and get matched.

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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CoachMePlus Funded $1M for Fuel Growth and Accelerate Digital Athletes Fitness Platform

Athletes

CoachMePlus is a Buffalo, NY-based developer of an athlete’s data and analytics platform intended to help design, manage, track and report the training efforts of athletes. The company’s platform helps to customize the platform for athletes or athletes to communicate announcements, send private messages, and share videos and other notifications with individual athletes or groups of athletes, enabling coaches to manage and track their athlete’s performance.

CoachMePlus was funded $1 million led by Rochester Angel Network and follow-on investment from the Buffalo Angel investors. The new funding intended to accelerate growth and expand operations and business reach.

Kevin Dawidowicz, Co-Founder and President of CoachMePlus, optimize personalized fitness using technology and data to enhance relationships between athletes and their trainers or coaches. They built something that hadn’t accomplished before, and the market is starting to catch up as organizations understand better how improved fitness and wellness impact readiness, outcomes, and the bottom line. They have added vital group members and will extend Buffalo operations to help answer the increasing inbound inquiries and interest in enterprise-level fitness and wellness initiatives.

CoachMePlus has grown beyond a training program for professional and collegiate athletes and the military to engage in enterprise and corporate fitness and wellness initiatives. As a result, the organization has made a solid standing and brand distinction in a challenging industry. In addition, it has achieved a stable product-market fit, proven by doubling revenue in the past year alone.

There’s lots of fitness technology out there, but there is no one on the different side allowing consumers to understand what all that data means. The app helps boost the connection between coach and athlete, recruiter and soldier, or trainer and client.

By: K. Tagura

Author statement:

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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Is It Possible Today to Start a Business under $1000?

Start

There is always a lot of talk among people about how it is getting easier than ever to start a business today. Of course, the internet has opened new doors for aspiring entrepreneurs to experiment with ideas that were only close to impossible to execute in the past. It is not to say that only internet-based businesses are cheap to start. In fact, some traditional businesses can be started at under $1000 with a little help from the internet. Most of them utilize applications that have a lot of users so they can reach them wherever they are. So, if you are someone looking forward to starting a small business, there are some possible considerations.

Cashing Your Creativity

The best and yet the easiest type of a business is one in which you cash your creativity. If you think you are not creative, you might need a second consideration. Every person in the world is creative, in one way or another. You don’t have to be painting masterpieces to step into this world. It can be something that you love or your favorite past time. If you can work around with ordinary items at home and create stuff out of them, you can turn it into a business.

Again, it was a difficult business to manage in the past but not anymore. With internet marketing allowing you to access global markets, you can easily find thousands and millions of people who are willing to buy your creations.  Utilize all the free apps and post your creation for free.

The good thing is that you have drop shipping options available. Let’s say you are a designer who loves to create designs for t-shirts. You can easily create t-shirt designs and start a business in less than $1000 without worrying about.

Using Your Accounting Skills

The trend of outsourcing accounting is at its peak right now. If you are good at accounting and bookkeeping, this is the right time for you to cash the opportunity. You can gather a team of accountants with you and start pitching the idea of outsourcing accounting department to businesses. The good thing is that you can pitch this idea to other small business.

The larger companies have their in-house solutions or services they have been using for years. However, small business owners are looking for ways to cut down on their costs. You can pitch them the idea that outsourcing their accounting operations is much cheaper than having accounts working for them and they work almost 100% the same with a price difference.

Once you have started to understand your business, you can take the next step and create a software based on your experience and you know it will benefit your business in the long run. You just have to make sure you address the accounts related pain points of small businesses when creating a software-based solution. If you need funding to create the application, you can do that using the online crowdfunding platforms like Funded.com.

Using Your Technical Troubleshooting Skills

Just like accounting, a lot of businesses are now outsourcing their IT related tasks as well. A big reason behind this outsourcing trend is that the third-party solutions are much cheaper than having a fully dedicated department to manage them in-house. Not to mention, IT is the need of every business today, from small businesses to large enterprises.

You should not be looking at providing complete IT support right from the beginning. At the start, you can address the more mundane troubleshooting tasks that keep coming up regularly. In addition to that, you can help small businesses manage their security software, CRM, surveillance systems, etc.

These issues are common but not serious when it comes to small businesses. However, having dedicated staff to manage these little issues and paying these professionals high monthly salaries plus other benefits is much costlier than going for the outsourced solution. There are a lot of online website companies that can help you find the right IT staff for your business.

Personal Trainer

People are becoming more and more serious about their fitness as they can know their physical conditions more using simple tools at home, e.g., blood glucose level checkers, blood pressure meters, heart rate monitors, etc. You don’t need long years of education to be a personal trainer but obtaining some certification is going to help you become a successful trainer faster. You can even create your courses and make them available on DVDs or start by writing an ebook about the particular niche that you want to serve.

Using Your Internet Marketing Skills

Do you often notice that you can make followers and friends on social media very easily? If that’s the case, you might have an expert internet marketer in you. The best thing about this type of business is that you can start it right from the comfort of your home. The only expenses you will have to bear in the beginning are of buying a domain, choosing a hosting plan and a little bit of marketing on the internet about your services. If you already have a lot of fans following on social media, you can use it to your advantage to spread the word.

It is a small business to start with, but it has the full potential of becoming a huge business if you do it with heart. Make sure to create a team of more people as soon as you see the workload increasing. You can consider opening an office once you have a few people working with you using internet marketing tool can hugely benefit your startup business.

Taking Advantage of the Organizer in You

Organizing services are gaining popularity in the recent days too. Professional organizers are people who help people manage their clutter at an hourly rate. You can provide these services to residential as well as commercial customers. The success of this type of business depends greatly on how dedicated you are to your work. You might have to work extra hours during odd timings, but it’s this effort that will create your value for your customers. The expenses here are also those of creating your website, managing a blog and doing the marketing on the internet, so people get to know about you.

Now you know that starting a business is not that difficult if you know your talents and abilities. The only part that you have excel in is internet marketing because your success depends on a great deal on whether you can connect with the right people or not. Do not be afraid in starting your business especially if you know that is your passion and put your time into it until it becomes successful. Be updated on the latest trend and make use of free application to help you grow your start up business.

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SURGE Therapeutics Funded $26M for Intraoperative Immunotherapy Development

Immunotherapy

Surge Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based, relentlessly creates a world where all cancer patients undergoing surgical tumor resection can receive intraoperative immunotherapy to prevent post-surgical recurrence and metastasis.

Surge Therapeutics was funded $26 million led by Camford Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Intuitive Ventures, Pitango HealthTech, 8VC, Alumni Ventures, other strategic angel investors, and the Cancer Research Institute.

The company plans to use the new funds to accelerate the development of its intraoperative immunotherapy process, grow the team, and start clinical trials for its injectable biodegradable hydrogel.

While surgery is the ideal of care for patients with solid tumors, surgery can lead to the return and spread of cancer. Such recurrence and metastasis are very challenging to treat, so the ability to prevent them from manifesting would be highly desirable. Surge Therapeutics is a company producing an injectable biodegradable hydrogel that helps extended, localized out-of-cancer immunotherapy at the site of surgical tumor resection to improve patient survival outcomes.

The proprietary hydrogel has been shown to reduce post-surgical recurrence and metastasis, which account for 90 percent of cancer-related deaths and have been linked to the immune suppression caused by surgery. Reprogramming the body’s response to surgery from immunosuppressive to immunostimulatory can trigger the patient’s immune system to destroy both local and distal residual cancer cells, reducing recurrence and improving survival.

Dr. Oliver Keown, M.D., Managing Director of Intuitive Ventures, said SURGE is in the process of putting potent immunotherapies into surgeons’ hands at a moment of significant potential impact for cancer patients. They are excited to work alongside Michael and his world-class team as they pioneer the field of localized therapeutics strategically placed and timed to enhance treatment for cancer patients.

The SURGERx™ platform is designed to improve the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy treatment, concentrating 100 percent of the effective dose where and when it can yield tremendous impact.

By: K. Tagura

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Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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9 Things to Consider Before Forming a Business Partnership

Budiness partnership

Getting into a business partnership has its benefits. It allows all contributors to share the stakes in the business. Depending on the risk appetites of partners, a business can have a general or limited liability partnership. Limited partners are only there to provide funding to the business. They have no say in business operations, neither do they share the responsibility of any debt or other business obligations. General Partners operate the business and share its liabilities as well. Since limited liability partnerships require a lot of paperwork, people usually tend to form general partnerships in businesses.

Things to Consider Before Setting Up A Business Partnership

Business partnerships are a great way to share your profit and loss with someone you can trust. However, a poorly executed partnerships can turn out to be a disaster for the business. Here are some useful ways to protect your interests while forming a new business partnership:

1. Being Sure Of Why You Need a Partner

Before entering into a business partnership with someone, you need to ask yourself why you need a partner. If you are looking for just an investor, then a limited liability partnership should suffice. However, if you are trying to create a tax shield for your business, the general partnership would be a better choice.

Business partners should complement each other in terms of experience and skills. If you are a technology enthusiast, teaming up with a professional with extensive marketing experience can be quite beneficial.

2. Understanding Your Partner’s Current Financial Situation

Before asking someone to commit to your business, you need to understand their financial situation. When starting up a business, there may be some amount of initial capital required. If business partners have enough financial resources, they will not require funding from other resources. This will lower a firm’s debt and increase the owner’s equity.

3. Background Check

Even if you trust someone to be your business partner, there is no harm in performing a background check. Calling a couple of professional and personal references can give you a fair idea about their work ethics. Background checks help you avoid any future surprises when you start working with your business partner. If your business partner is used to sitting late and you are not, you can divide responsibilities accordingly.

It is a good idea to check if your partner has any prior experience in running a new business venture. This will tell you how they performed in their previous endeavors.

4. Have an Attorney Vet the Partnership Documents

Make sure you take legal opinion before signing any partnership agreements. It is one of the most useful ways to protect your rights and interests in a business partnership. It is important to have a good understanding of each clause, as a poorly written agreement can make you run into liability issues.

You should make sure to add or delete any relevant clause before entering into a partnership. This is because it is cumbersome to make amendments once the agreement has been signed.

5. The Partnership Should Be Solely Based On Business Terms

Business partnerships should not be based on personal relationships or preferences. There should be strong accountability measures put in place from the very first day to track performance. Responsibilities should be clearly defined and performing metrics should indicate every individual’s contribution towards the business.

Having a weak accountability and performance measurement system is one of the reasons why many partnerships fail. Rather than putting in their efforts, owners start blaming each other for the wrong decisions and resulting in company losses.

6. The Commitment Level of Your Business Partner

All partnerships start on friendly terms and with great enthusiasm. However, some people lose excitement along the way due to everyday slog. Therefore, you need to understand the commitment level of your partner before entering into a business partnership with them.

Your business partner(s) should be able to show the same level of commitment at every stage of the business. If they do not remain committed to the business, it will reflect in their work and can be detrimental to the business as well. The best way to maintain the commitment level of each business partner is to set desired expectations from every person from the very first day.

While entering into a partnership agreement, you need to have an idea about your partner’s added responsibilities. Responsibilities such as taking care of an elderly parent should be given due thought to set realistic expectations. This gives room for compassion and flexibility in your work ethics.

7. What Will Happen If a Partner Exits the Business

Just like any other contract, a business venture requires a prenup. This would outline what happens in case a partner wishes to exit the business. Some of the questions to answer in such a scenario include:

  • How will the exiting party receive compensation?
  • How will the division of resources take place among the remaining business partners?
  • Also, how will you divide the responsibilities?

8. Who Will Be In Charge Of Daily Operations

Even when there is a 50-50 partnership, someone needs to be in charge of daily operations. Positions including CEO and Director need to be allocated to appropriate individuals including the business partners from the beginning.

This helps in creating an organizational structure and further defining the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder. When each individual knows what is expected of him or her, they are more likely to perform better in their role.

9. You Share the Same Values and Vision

Entering into a business partnership with someone who shares the same values and vision makes the running of daily operations considerably easy. You can make important business decisions quickly and define long-term strategies. However, sometimes, even the most like-minded individuals can disagree on important decisions. In such cases, it is essential to keep in mind the long-term goals of the business.

Bottom Line

Business partnerships are a great way to share liabilities and increase funding when setting up a new business. To make a business partnership successful, it is important to find a partner that will help you make fruitful decisions for the business. Thus, pay attention to the above-mentioned integral aspects, as a weak partner(s) can prove detrimental for your new venture.

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Trash Warrior Funded $8M to Strengthen the Waste Management Innovation and Marketing Efforts

Waste Management

Trash Warrior is a San Francisco, CA-based developer of an on-demand waste management platform intended to make public spaces clean and tidy. The company’s platform allows booking services such as junk removal, cardboard extraction, weed eradication, graffiti and etchings elimination, and power-wash, enabling customers to keep areas and surroundings fresh and neat at affordable rates.

Trash Warrior was funded $8 million led by AltaIR Capital with participation from Amino Capital, Operator Partners, Vermilion Ventures, and Hyphen Capital with participation from Primavera Capital, Sand Hill Angel investors, Lombard Street Ventures, and 500 Startups.

The firm intends to utilize the new funds to enhance technology, hire talent, and strengthen its sales and marketing efforts.

Trash Warrior provides a new business strategy for B2B waste management in the U.S. After reserving a waste management request on trashwarrior.com. Any business can resolve waste headaches in a matter of hours rather than days. This on-demand, the high-volume nationwide platform gets technology-enabled waste management to consumers ‘ fingertips. It eradicates the need for calls, layers of brokers, and back-and-forth negotiations and covers all waste needs.

Trash Warrior is a supervised platform that delivers waste removal and dumpster rental services to all B2B customers, with the option of highly customized business solutions for nationwide clients. Like Uber, Trash Warrior’s two-sided marketplace fits client needs with the waste providers best placed to satisfy them, considering availability, sustainability requirements, and pricing.

Igor Ryabenkiy, the CEO and GP of AltaIR Capital, said that the US waste management market is constantly growing. However, it continues to use primarily classic tools and methods. Trash Warrior developed an innovative approach to solving market issues, thus ensuring the company’s rapid growth.

By: K. Tagura

Author statement:

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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Regie.ai Funded $10M to Develop a New Product Design for AI Quality Content Creation

Content

Regie.ai is a San Francisco, CA-based developer of an AI content platform designed to offer an all-in-one content creation and management system. The company’s platform blends the art of language and the science of delivery to create, test, and analyze personalized prospecting sales campaigns, enabling businesses to boost engagement and optimize front-line performance.

Regie.ai was funded $10 million conducted by Scale Venture Partners with participation from Foundation Capital, South Park Commons, Day One Ventures, and notable angel investors. They will use the new investment for product development as the company continues to add features to its platform—a first-of-its-kind offering designed specifically for enterprise sales and marketing teams. For example, Regie.ai uses generative AI to make it easier for businesses to generate quality copy and content automatically, keep it for sharing, approval, and messaging consistency across teams, export series to deals engagement platforms, and propose copy improvements based on campaign results.

Regie.ai established in 2020 by Matt Millen and Srinath Sridhar. Formerly a software engineer at Google and Meta. Sridhar says he and Millen the Regie.ai aspired to make a method for companies to share with their clients via social media, text, podcasts, email, online advertising, and more. Because companies have so many platforms and mediums to speak with customers, he notes, it can be challenging for content marketers to produce continuously compelling content to reach their customers.

Since copywriting fast becomes uncontrollable and unproductive across numerous teams, some companies peek toward outsourced copywriters or agencies to compose their email series, SMS campaigns, call scripts, and social media ads. But outsourcing creates significant organizational challenges and fails to effectively align written communications with business output. In addition, keeping messaging consistent and persistently updated is a considerable challenge. Regie.ai delivers a cohesive platform that creates content creation and management accessible and valuable.

Regie.ai allows organizations to form copy, at scale, for the dozens of platforms they use to get their many target customer personas. It leverages productive AI for consistency, speed, and quality, and copy follows sharing, commenting, and approval workflows.

The platform currently supports over 75 SaaS customers, including AT&T, Crunchbase, Sophos, Auth0, and more. It also combines with sales engagement platforms like Outreach.io, SalesLoft, and Hubspot.

By: K. Tagura

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Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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Checkmate Funded $5M to Accelerate Brand Partnership for Consumers Growth

Consumers

Checkmate is a San Francisco, CA-based digital wallet developer and payment management application designed to compound discounts for e-commerce consumers. The company’s application assists in finding and examining the numerous discounted gift cards on the internet and applies them. At the same time, shopping notifies potential savings during checkout. In addition, it allows storing reward vouchers in a wallet, enabling users to save money when purchasing online or in the physical world.

Checkmate was funded $5 million, led by Fuel Capital. Joining them in the round were Kevin Johnson, former CEO of Ebates at Rakuten, f7 Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Scribble Ventures, Hyper, Susa Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, Exits Capital, Night Capital, and other strategic angel investors. The company will utilize the new funding to accelerate product development and e-commerce consumers.

Consumers typically are so inundated with personalized email deals from brands that it’s tough to manage them all and remember to apply each discount at checkout. As a mobile app/extension and laptop extension, Checkmate is the first solution that gathers all the best deals from a user’s email and the web and automatically applies them at checkout to help intelligent shoppers save the most they can.

The company launched its product over the summer with 200 customers, which has grown to over 1,000. And while it is still in the early stages, customers are already using Checkmate about five times each week and are saving on average, 27% on orders.

Checkmate’s convenient dashboard also stores and manages users’ gift cards and tracks all their orders so they can see when their packages will arrive at their doorstep. In addition, users can opt to have Checkmate generate a “ghost email inbox” with just one click. They will create a new email address on the back end and sign it up to the top 100 retail and brand mailing lists, so users can collect thousands of personalized deals without having their inboxes filled with offers. Checkmate then automatically applies any relevant deals from the inbox for users while they shop to ensure they save the most they can, with no extra effort.

By: K. Tagura

Author statement:

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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CNote Funded $7.25M for Financial Security and Technology Advancement

Financial

CNote is an Oakland, CA-based developer of impact investment software designed to build a more inclusive economy through financial innovation. The company’s platform directs every dollar invested towards funding females, minority-led small businesses, affordable housing, and economic development in financially underserved communities across America, enabling users to make money by investing in causes and communities they care about.

CNote was funded $7.25 million, led by American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, and participated by Astia Fund, BankTech Ventures, Commerce Ventures, CityRock Venture Partners, and other angel investors. The company plans to utilize the new investment to advance its technology, develop its sales team and heighten its network of community financial institutions.

CNote’s technology platform gives corporations a simple, safe way to deploy ESG cash and fixed income in underserved communities at scale. CNote places investor funds into deposit and loan products through a network of over 2,000 impact-driven community financial institutions that serve low- to moderate-income communities, support women and people of color entrepreneurs, fund affordable housing and provide other forms of economic inclusion.

The company has the network, the community financial expertise, and the technology to provide unprecedented access to ESG cash and fixed-income opportunities at scale alongside trackable impact. They’ve lessened the friction points to activate their balance sheets quickly and with minimal effort.

Oliver Libby, co-founding Managing Partner of New York venture firm CityRock Venture Partners, H/L Ventures’ opportunity fund, said their firm seeks startups with high growth potential, positive impact, and diverse leadership teams. CNote exemplifies the extraordinary, scalable business potential of investment for effect.

By: K. Tagura

Author statement:

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com