DeepBench, an expert network software platform based in Boston, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding through a strategic partnership with VisasQ, global expert network service headquartered in Tokyo.
DeepBench was founded three years ago by a handful of students at MIT Sloan: Devin Basinger, Yishi Zuo, Derek Hans and Nikhil Punwaney. The startup finds individuals on behalf of businesses to act as expert advisors on one-hour consultations.
"The idea is very simple: connecting businesses with individual experts who can help them with all sorts of things," said Alden French, DeepBench's vice president of expert networks.
Expert advisors set their own fees, with DeepBench acting as middleman. Each consultation costs several hundred dollars for the end user, usually between $500 and $800, said French. Of that, $550 is a flat fee taken by DeepBench. DeepBench collects that fee only once a call is completed.
"Our clients come to us with a request, and we search for experts based on what they need," French said. "If they find what they need, they book a call through us, then pay us. We call it 'pay per call.'"
DeepBench currently employs about 10 people. It had previously been funded mostly by angel financing, French said. VisasQ is the startup's first real institutional investor.
DeepBench plans to use the new funding to expand its team, further develop its platform and expand into new markets, per a statement emailed to BostInno. Those goals should be advanced by the new partnership with VisasQ: The Japanese company will use the startup's technology to streamline its matching capabilities and process overseas advisors.
“DeepBench has heavily invested in technology since our inception in 2016," DeepBench co-founder Zuo, who now heads up the startup as CEO, said in the statement. "We look forward to collaborating with VisasQ, which has built a formidable position in Japan. Together, DeepBench and VisasQ will continue to spearhead innovations in connecting global expertise via our proprietary technologies."
