PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–HourTown™ (www.hourtown.com), the leading provider of online scheduling and marketing services for personal businesses, announced today it has secured $1 million in funding to help support its steady growth. The company is backed by Baseline Ventures, Hatch Ventures and NBC Universal in addition to several of Silicon Valley’s top angel investors. The company will use the capital to accelerate hiring and to further develop its product.
“We’re encouraged that some of the early investors in Google and PayPal are recognizing the value of our service, which is targeted at the estimated 15 million small business owners who provide services for a living,” said Ryan Donahue, founder, HourTown. “With this capital we will maintain our position as the market leader, while utilizing client feedback to enhance the aspects of our service that are most valuable to them.”
HourTown’s proprietary technology allows personal businesses as varied as accountants, massage therapists, music teachers, personal trainers and real estate agents to accept appointments with new and existing clients online, any time of day or night. HourTown benefits these small businesses by providing the convenience of online scheduling, while simultaneously marketing their services and publishing open appointment times online in order to attract new customers.
“We view HourTown as the long-awaited technological bridge between two hectic groups: busy consumers looking for convenience and busy small businesses looking to improve customer service and grow their top line,” said Armand Nicholi of Hatch Ventures. “HourTown now offers both camps a vastly better way to communicate.”
In a recent survey of more than 4,000 people who schedule appointments with service providers on a regular basis, 86 percent said they would be more loyal to a personal business if the service provider offered online scheduling.
“Essentially, this is Web 2.0 for your yoga instructor,” said Donahue. “Online scheduling is becoming a necessary part of conducting business and, every day, service providers have unfilled appointment times that go to waste. By empowering small businesses to publish those available times on the Internet – where millions of people are looking for services – I believe HourTown is making the local services economy more efficient for the business owner, as well as the consumer.”
About HourTown
HourTown is a user-friendly online scheduling and marketing service designed specifically for the millions of small business owners who provide services for a living. HourTown benefits consumers by enabling them to schedule appointments online, any time of day or night, with local businesses. HourTown benefits business owners by eliminating phone tag with clients and providing an innovative online workspace that can manage their schedule, while simultaneously marketing their availability. HourTown is easy to use and does not require users to download or install software. HourTown creates a more effective and professional online presence for any business and is accessible and secure to use from any computer. For more information about HourTown and a complete list of its features and benefits, please visit www.hourtown.com.