ZenBusiness, an Austin startup that helps other companies manage business incorporation filings and other government records, has raised a $4.5 million seed round.
The funding round was led by Lere Hippeau, an early-stage venture capital fund in New York City. Other investors include New York-based Greycroft, San Francisco-based Slow Ventures, Revolution's Rise of the Rest in Washington D.C. and San Francisco-based Founders Fund.
ZenBusiness, which has been operating quietly since its founding in 2015, helps other businesses, including LLCs, C-Corps and S-Corps, file with the state to become a business entity, manage a variety of state and federal regulatory filings and stay up-to-date with tax filing. It pitches itself as an easy, worry-free alternative to navigating the often complex filing process, which varies state-to-state.
It offers business formation for free -- and a $10 a month service for monitoring and upkeep. And customers have a dashboard where they can monitor upcoming filings.
It was founded by Ross Buhrdorf, former founding chief technical officer at HomeAway, and JC Glancy, who was a page operations analyst at Facebook. Other co-founders include Shanaz Hemmati, a former global VP of information systems at HomeAway; Rafael Lopez, a former software consultant; and Art Flores, who was most recently director of business development at Bissex & Watson, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“We’ve combined a disruptive platform with services and fair pricing to make sure every individual and small business owner has the ongoing resources and protection they need to turn their business dreams and ideas into reality," Buhrdorf said in a news release. "Our goal is clear: 1 million new businesses in the next 5 years that will translate into millions of jobs for all the employees of our customers and their families.”
ZenBusiness angel investors include former HomeAway co-founder and CEO Brian Sharples, Geekdom Fund co-founder Don Douglas, data.world Founder Brett Hurt, Build-A-Sign Founder Dan Graham, Barracuda Networks Founder and CEO Dean Drako, SoftMatch Founder Mellie Price, Capital Factory Founder Joshua Baer, Ichat Founder Andrew Busey and Rockfish Innovation Group CEO Kenny Tomlin.
It also went through the Capital Factory accelerator, where Buhrdorf is a mentor.
