ZenBusiness, an online platform to help small businesses incorporate and stay compliant with regulators, announced Thursday that it has raised $55 million in additional funding.
To date, the Austin-based company, founded in 2017, has raised $74.5 million.
Cathay Innovation led the Series B round with participation from Great Point Ventures, Breyer Capital, and Omega Venture Partners. Other investors included Greycroft, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Interlock Partners, Adam Zeplain’s mark vc, and ATX Venture Partners.
“What the ZenBusiness team is doing is a real game-changer not just for their customer base but also for our country. By creating a centralized place for micro-businesses to form, learn, connect, grow and thrive, ZenBusiness is playing a key role to help ensure that the future for aspiring entrepreneurs is bright,” Jim Breyer, Founder of Breyer Capital and Facebook’s first institutional investor, said in a news release.
ZenBusiness’ platform serves small to medium-sized businesses and makes it easy and inexpensive for a company to file an LLC or Corporation with state and federal regulators. ZenBusiness also offers a wide array of business services including accounting, taxes, banking, lending and credit, website, domain, and email.
The company plans to use the funds raised to expand its services offered on its digital platform.
“ZenBusiness is revolutionizing entrepreneurship, the lifeblood of the economy and job creation, as the new operating system for micro-businesses that allows aspirers to become business owners,” Alex Lazarow, investment director of Cathay Innovation, said in a news release.
Earlier this year, ZenBusiness bought another Austin-based startup, Joust, a fintech platform. It plans to launch as ZenBusiness Money later this year. It will provide invoicing and allow for payments and merchant services.
More than 80,000 micro businesses have launched using its platform. The pandemic has also spurred an increase in business as more people launch freelance careers.
“Since the pandemic, we have experienced a 100% increase in growth and seen first-hand incredible resilience and grit among Americans seeking to make their mark as business owners,” Ross Buhrdorf, CEO and Co-Founder of ZenBusiness, said in a statement “We are proud to play a vital role to help micro-businesses, who make up a majority of U.S. businesses, on their path to financial success and economic mobility. We are all in to help our customers — 87% of whom are first-time business owners — make the transition from just a side hustle to full-time entrepreneurship and focus on turning their business dreams into a reality.”
The company also announced the launch of ZenBusinessU next year. It will provide micro-businesses with information as well as connecting them to experts to help grow their businesses.
