Salespeople communicate with prospective customers on the Hatch app. (Hatch)
A local startup is returning home from a trip to Silicon Valley with seven figures’ worth of extra baggage.
Hatchify, which launched in 2016 as a for-hire sales team before pivoting last year into a software company for salespeople, closed this month on a $2.5 million capital raise.
Chris Bache and Bill Violante co-founded the company and said they landed the venture money during pitches they made at Y Combinator, an incubator program held twice a year in Mountain View, California.
While there, Bache said they pitched to dozens of venture capital firms.
Co-founders Bill Violante, left, and Chris Bache. (Hatchify)
“I did 40 presentations, of which my first 30 were … not great,” Bache said, laughing. “But once you get your story succinct and you’re able to describe the problem you’re solving and the size of the market, then VCs will listen.”
Hatchify wound up getting a combined $2.5 million from Boston-based NextView Ventures and Detroit firm Ludlow Ventures. The equity raise closed June 4, per SEC documents.
The capital raise is Hatchify’s first, and Bache said they’ve retained their majority stake in the company.
“This will help us fuel that next step of growth,” Bache said. “We’ve been bootstrapped and profitable for our whole existence, so we didn’t need (the capital) to keep the company alive, but to grow it.”
The new money will help Hatchify roughly double its team of 16 employees, hiring in its sales, engineering, product and marketing departments. The startup’s office is at 220 Hull St. in Manchester.
Salespeople use Hatchify’s app, Hatch, to keep in touch with prospective customers via call, text or email, and to keep a schedule of when they’ve contacted each lead.
Bache said most of Hatch’s clients are companies that sell things with price tags over $1,000, such as those in the home improvement and auto industries.
“We’re focused on companies that are high-consideration products,” Bache said. “When they’re dealing with people that are like, ‘I’ve got to call my wife,’ or ‘I’ve got to check my bank account,’ those do well with two-way communication.”
Bache said he’d like the new funding to help Hatchify get more clients in different industries.
“Real estate is a huge opportunity for us, and we just haven’t been able to focus there,” he said.
Salespeople communicate with prospective customers on the Hatch app. (Hatch)
A local startup is returning home from a trip to Silicon Valley with seven figures’ worth of extra baggage.
Hatchify, which launched in 2016 as a for-hire sales team before pivoting last year into a software company for salespeople, closed this month on a $2.5 million capital raise.
Chris Bache and Bill Violante co-founded the company and said they landed the venture money during pitches they made at Y Combinator, an incubator program held twice a year in Mountain View, California.
While there, Bache said they pitched to dozens of venture capital firms.
Co-founders Bill Violante, left, and Chris Bache. (Hatchify)
“I did 40 presentations, of which my first 30 were … not great,” Bache said, laughing. “But once you get your story succinct and you’re able to describe the problem you’re solving and the size of the market, then VCs will listen.”
Hatchify wound up getting a combined $2.5 million from Boston-based NextView Ventures and Detroit firm Ludlow Ventures. The equity raise closed June 4, per SEC documents.
The capital raise is Hatchify’s first, and Bache said they’ve retained their majority stake in the company.
“This will help us fuel that next step of growth,” Bache said. “We’ve been bootstrapped and profitable for our whole existence, so we didn’t need (the capital) to keep the company alive, but to grow it.”
The new money will help Hatchify roughly double its team of 16 employees, hiring in its sales, engineering, product and marketing departments. The startup’s office is at 220 Hull St. in Manchester.
Salespeople use Hatchify’s app, Hatch, to keep in touch with prospective customers via call, text or email, and to keep a schedule of when they’ve contacted each lead.
Bache said most of Hatch’s clients are companies that sell things with price tags over $1,000, such as those in the home improvement and auto industries.
“We’re focused on companies that are high-consideration products,” Bache said. “When they’re dealing with people that are like, ‘I’ve got to call my wife,’ or ‘I’ve got to check my bank account,’ those do well with two-way communication.”
Bache said he’d like the new funding to help Hatchify get more clients in different industries.
“Real estate is a huge opportunity for us, and we just haven’t been able to focus there,” he said.