A Tampa startup launched at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has now secured a six-figure deal and spot in the prestigious Y Combinator program based in Silicon Valley.
Resquared was co-founded by Tyler Carlson, a former Tampa startup employee who was born and raised in the city, along with Ohioan Griffin Morris. Griffin and Carlson connected when Carlson was a vice president of sales at Tampa sales startup SiteZeus and Griffin was a data partner of the company.
The company has been tapped by Y Combinator to join its "Winter 21 batch" cohort, which has begun and will culminate in a demo day pitch event in March. The accelerator has helped launch a number of well-known name brands including Airbnb, DoorDash, Instacart, Dropbox and Reddit.
With acceptance to the accelerator comes an investment in the company, which was undisclosed other than being identified as six figures. The funding will be used to further accelerate the growth of its current six full-time employees.
After participation in the Y Combinator program is complete, Carlson said the company will likely seek Series A funding to accommodate a recent uptick in interest.
"Two weeks ago alone we grew 20% in one day; I haven't made any cold calls, it's all word of mouth," he said. "We want to continue to grow and make ourselves the authority in this space and have the white glove service behind it."
Carlson is joining a growing list of entrepreneurs that spun off from fellow Tampa Bay startups. The company was founded by Morris in March, with Carlson officially joining on at the end of the year.
"One thing I appreciated about SiteZeus, Hannibal [Baldwin, its founder] would say, 'I know you're going to start your own thing one day,'" Carlson said. He had joined a study guide startup while attending Florida State University, which was later acquired and caused Carlson to drop out of school shortly after. "I did the study guides and before that I would hustle around the neighborhood. What SiteZeus gave me is to really learn the whole area of the business and it was working with the biggest brands in the world."
Resquared offers a platform to help both property owners and brokers fill empty spaces with local businesses and allows the owners to reach out to small businesses with tailored messaging.
"Today, these people would have to Google 'Tampa pizza shops' or 'Tampa nail salons,' so instead, we have all the data on small businesses in one place," he said.
Despite launching at the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which caused thousands of businesses to shutter, Resquared has relied almost entirely on word of mouth and has had an influx of interest.
"It was terrifying initially [to launch in a pandemic] but in hindsight it was perfect timing," Carlson said. "We believe the trend will continue [with a shift to small businesses] because there are more vacancies than ever, and the national brands know they can't open like they used to. So, we think the problem is compounding."
