Local fintech startup DebtBook recently closed a $2 million seed round it will use to beef up its growing team.
DebtBook, founded in 2019 by Tyler Traudt and Eric Pelletier, makes easy-to-use, cloud-based debt and lease management software for government, higher education and health-care finance teams.
"We went out into the world and tried to solve the problem of having this important information housed in a thousand spreadsheets," Traudt said. "We knew the problem was important because if the services we all need and use are capital intensive, if we could give this industry more time and deliver efficiencies around how they manage it on a daily basis, they would do a better job and we would ultimately see the benefits."
The seed round closed earlier this month and brings DebtBook's total funding to just under $5 million since late 2019. Traudt said they've been intentional about how to raise and distribute capital.
"We didn’t want to go in and raise a ton because we wanted to be capital efficient," Traudt said. "When we first raised $750,000 at (the) end of 2019, we said we’d take that and prove there was a market for what we wanted to do. We were able to launch a product and sign contracts and have happy customers."
He added, "We then raised a little bit more and a little bit more. This $2 million is really just the fourth iteration of that, and at the same time we need to hire wonderful people to do great work for us and our clients."
Traudt said DebtBook began as a four-person operation and has since grown into a team of 38 people with plans to add 10 more full-time employees. He said they plan to begin raising a Series A round sometime in 2022.
The startup has 300 clients in 44 states, including local governments in Raleigh, Durham, Lincolnton and Albemarle, as well as Fort Worth, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Jacksonville, Florida.
"Our clients love using DebtBook, and we need to make sure they feel that way in 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, as we continue making new things," Traudt said. "We’re growing quickly, and we want to continue growing quickly and deliver our product to as many folks as we can."
