Cashdrop, a startup that helps businesses create and manage an online storefront from a smartphone, has landed $2.7 million in an oversubscribed seed round.
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The Chicago-based company, founded by Ruben Flores-Martinez less than a year ago, enables users to have their storefronts up and running in under 15 minutes without paying huge commissions or fees, he said in an interview. Instead, customers pay a small commission fee.
“I want to champion the local mom and pop business,” Flores-Martinez said. “We believe that products like this lead to economic change.”
Harlem Capital led the deal, which included participation from Founder Collective, Long Journey Ventures and M25, as well as individual investors, including Cyan Banister, Scott Belsky, George Strompolos and Michelle Phan.
Jarrid Tingle, managing partner at Harlem Capital, said in a written statement that after meeting Flores-Martinez in June, he was “instantly impressed by Ruben’s story, vision and strong product developed using minimal resources.”
“Cashdrop has a massive long-term market opportunity. In the short-term, however, it has proved to be a platform that empowers restaurants and other merchants to adapt quickly to a new way of doing business during the global public health crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tingle added.
The new funding will be used on product development and marketing. Cashdrop has seven employees currently—most of whom are new since March, and the company plans to add more this year, Flores-Martinez said.
Cashdrop started with food, but will add new areas, such as services and beauty. It is also building internal tools for better user experience and so the company can cultivate better relationships with merchants.
“There are several incumbents in that space, but they have fees, which is our differentiator,” he said. “We are growing the team and are getting to the point where we can focus on our next goals, which are to ramp up acquisition and the new verticals.”
Feature photo of Ruben Flores-Martinez courtesy of Cashdrop
Blogroll illustration: Li-Anne Dias
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