When Anthony Nagendraraj and Marissa Huggins attended the Miami-based eMerge Americas conference just three months after moving to the U.S., they had hoped for more knowledge and connections in the cryptocurrency world.
They got that — with an investment from Mark Cuban.
The Dallas Mavericks owner and charismatic "shark" on ABC's hit show "Shark Tank" has invested an undisclosed amount into Spontivly, Nagendraraj and Huggins' community-focused SaaS company.
"We do a lot of consultations with companies and you have no idea how many people ask us about community-as-a-strategy," Huggins said. "That's what led to this for us and ultimately led us to increase our market valuation in a downturn. [Investors and clients] see it as a growth strategy through a pandemic and recession."
Spontivly made the move to Tampa Bay in January and quickly embedded itself in the community. It is both part of the Tampa Bay Wave and Embarc Collective incubator programs and was chosen as a 2022 Startup of the Year honoree.
The company was launched in 2019 as a way to connect international college students, but evolved into what they call "Google Analytics for community." Organizations can gain insights into their community through Spontivly's real-time analytics platform, combining the company's data and necessary tools into one platform.
The company's capabilities can extend to the cryptocurrency world, which was the final clincher for Cuban and his team.
"When he first started talking to us, he asked can we integrate into crypto and we said yes which was huge," Nagendraraj said. "He's looking at providing us with the value and knowledge around the web3 and crypto space."
Spontivly previously raised a six-figure pre-seed round with participation from heavy hitters including social media marketing giant Hootsuite.
With help from Cuban's funding and prior investors, Spontivly closed a $500,000 bridge round this week and has roughly 24 months of runway.
"We were looking to do a bridge round because there was a market shift that was happening," Nagendraraj said. "And we had a series of investors and then Mark Cuban came along. And it's like, 'OK, let's put our eggs in his basket.'"
The funding is a particular win at a time many investors have paused activity due to a tumultuous economy.
"We came through a pandemic and then a recession," Nagendraraj said, citing Airbnb, Hootsuite and DoorDash which also found their success in a recession. "We’re scaling versus some companies are doing layoffs. We’re just being smart about it and bracing for the worst."
The funding will be used in part for growing Spontivly's 11-person staff, which it expects to bulk up 30% by the end of the year and to 65 employees in the next three years.
The co-founders credited the Tampa Bay region, in part, for their success in the short six months since the cross-continent move.
"The community in Tampa Bay is thriving and so supportive," Huggins said. "This would not have happened if we hadn't moved. That support — it's hard to showcase in tangible words, how we know that to be true — but we just both know that to be the truth."
