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Founder Columbia alum Tyler Cooper tells us more about this company that won “Crowd Favorite” at the Launch Festival – and just raised their $2 million Series A round.
Who were your investors and who led the round?
Halic LLC led the round. Other notable / strategic participants include Demarest Films, Ben Silverman, and Archer Gray.
What was the funding process like?
It was a learning experience, but also a lot of fun. It all happened really rapidly following our debut at Launch Fest in February. We recognized a lead within a few weeks of Launch and had a lot of additional inbound interest in the round. We also had the fortune of getting some great advice from Columbia’s entrepreneurial community along the way, specifically from guys like Dave Lerner, Amol Sarva and Ryan Armbrust. They were really helpful as I worked to get my bearings during the process.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Staying focused. Raising your first round takes a lot of time and effort, but it is incredibly important to remain focused on your business, products and team. Otherwise, people aren’t going to be happy with what they invest in!
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
It was all about the team and our traction to date. I have incredibly talented technical co-founders and we have some very cool product releases in the pipeline. Our investors saw that really quickly and have a lot of faith in our ability to execute. Winning “crowd favorite” at Launch Fest didn’t hurt either.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Keep grinding and don’t try to do too many things at once. There’s some saying about chasing two rabbits… You get the idea. Take on a niche market and dominate it.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Our next major milestone will be the release of our mobile app. We are really excited to get that in people’s hands! We are also working on some really cool initiatives with the major film studios that will follow the app release.
What’s your favorite movie that was set in NYC?
Man, that’s tough. 3 Days of the Condor is a great one. Speaking of great NYC movies, have you checked out our map of the top 100 NYC restaurants from film? (shameless plug)
