For companies increasingly looking for low-code/no-code tools, such as app builders and design tools, they run the risk of data errors and failures.
Actor and Atlanta entrepreneur Philip Lakin believes his startup Switchboard can save businesses time and money by identifying those risks before they occur.
The company raised a $4.5 million seed round led by early-stage focused venture capital firm Slow Ventures. The funds will be used for hiring, developing its content and researching how to integrate artificial intelligence, Lakin said.
Founders of other prominent low-code/no-code companies Zapier, Bubble, Betty Blocks, Internal and Carrd are betting on the startup. Other investors include Caffeinated Capital, Backend Capital, Charge Ventures, Behind Genius Ventures, Overline Ventures, Forum Ventures, Soma Capital, TnT Ventures, Polymath Capital and New Normal Ventures.
The company’s software helps businesses that use no-code and low-code solutions to analyze its automation. Users can integrate Switchboard into their accounts on platforms like Integra Map or Zapier to monitor workflows for potential breakdowns.
The market for low-code/no-code will be at $70 billion by next year, said Lakin, while over 60% of applications developed for enterprises over the next few years will be done with low-code/no-code.
“No-code tools are very siloed and the infrastructure isn't quite up to date, Philip is trying to build an infrastructure for large enterprises which is where the opportunity is,” said Josh Schlisserman, founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures. “[Switchboard] could be a unicorn or even a decacorn, one that shapes the no-code industry.”
Lakin is confident Swithboard can accomplish a large market share in the industry.
“What makes us different is we are not building an all-in-one solution. We want to be on top of all layers, so a user can use what they want and bring what they have,” said Lakin.
The company, which is located at 1989 College Ave. in Kirkwood, currently has 17 employees. Half of whom are based in Atlanta with the remainder based in San Francisco and across the world.
It looks to increase its staff to 30 by the end of the year, mostly hiring in research and development along with sales and marketing.
To date, the company has On Deck, Stir and the.com as some of its largest enterprise customers. For the short-term, Lakin says the company will be focusing on content development and finding design partners more than marketing.
“Our focus is finding out the right combination of products that makes us essential to use scaling [low-code/no-code] in an organization,” said Lakin. “Our big focus is doubling down efforts around discovering our next set of features.”
Before entering into the tech space, Lakin had a career as an actor. He appeared in a 2001 Law and Order episode as a child and won the award for Best Actor in a Short Drama at the Atlantic City Cinefest in 2014, according to IMDb.
In 2015, Lakin launched Your NYC Concierge that did street promotions for brands. The company garnered over 5,000 app installations, said Lakin.
He first saw the potential for low-code/no-code when he was hired by ground transportation company Gett to hire drivers from Lyft and Uber. While there, he built a low-code/no-code application that could onboard a driver within 20 minutes without internet. He was able to sign up 25,000 rideshare drivers.
Lakin continued his career in the low-code/no-code industry when he was hired by real-estate technology company Compass, where he used low-code/no-code to onboard 15,000 real-estate agents across the U.S.
His experience in the industry led him to create a community of professionals in the low-code/no-code industry with the weekly newsletter, No Code Ops. The newsletter, which features resources and articles, now has approximately 5,000 subscribers.
The newsletter led Lakin to Brent Summers, who was also involved in the operational side of the low-code/no-code industry. The two had the intention of creating software that made the industry more sustainable and could advocate for low-code/no-code professionals.
Within no time, Switchboard was born.
