In December, I included Boston's HourlyNerd among the top local tech startups to watch. The company is seeking to disrupt the world of business consulting with its "gig economy"-style marketplace, and some MBAs are already making big money using the site.
On Wednesday, the startup disclosed it now has the money to support that push for a while to come: HourlyNerd announced that it has raised $7.8 million in Series B funding.
The round was led by Highland Capital Partners, with participation from GE Ventures, Greylock Partners, Intuit founder Scott Cook, the Kraft Group, angel investor Semil Shah, former Etsy CEO Maria Thomas, Rent the Runway Founder/CEO Jennifer Hyman and Boston VC Suffolk Equity Partners.
Highland and Greylock had led the company's Series A funding last year (amount undisclosed), while earlier investors included Mark Cuban who contributed $450,000.
In a news release, co-CEO/co-founder Rob Biederman said HourlyNerd is becoming "the global spot market for business talent."
More than 4,500 companies have used HourlyNerd so far—including GE, Microsoft, American Apparel and Omaha Steaks—and the site features more than 10,000 consultants.
HourlyNerd was founded in early 2013 as part of a Harvard Business School course.
