Tag Archive for: Startups

Impacks

Traction Capital has invested $500,000 in a St. Cloud based startup making school supplies more convenient and accessible. Impacks provides families with pre-packed school supply kits, tailored specifically to their school and grade. The Minneapolis venture capital firm looks forward to helping Impacks expand their customer base and give back to their community.

Impacks is a tech powered company that simplifies the way parents and educators access critical school supplies for students. Their platform customizes the back-to-school experience for parents, educators and administration through teacher approved school supply kits and bulk supply purchases for schools. Striving to create a world where all students can flourish, Impacks allows schools to fundraise and matches a percentage of each donation.

“Brandon and I, along with our Impacks team, are thrilled to join the Traction Capital portfolio. We believe Traction Capital offers a unique perspective and value through the depth of experience represented across their team and investors. We’ve already seen the impact of their process from just one strategy session with the Traction Capital team. We believe in the system, and we’re proud to align with an organization that leverages tools they use to elevate startups in MN and beyond. One thing that stood out to me in our early conversations with Traction Capital team is the blend of practicality, strategy, and ambition this organization applies to mentoring their portfolio of companies. We have a big goals for Impacks over the next few years, and we’re grateful to have Traction Capital’s support in those goals” says Clare Richards, CEO of Impacks.

Impacks has partnerships with over 50 schools across MN and Wisconsin, has sold over 6,000 school supply kits, and has generated over $18,000 in donations for partner schools.

The founders Clare and Brandon Richards were inspired to solve the issues facing parents and schools after volunteering at a school supply event in their community. Truly a dynamic duo, Clare has over 8 years of experience in marketing strategy and brand building, and Brandon has over 8 years of experience in the school supply industry and sales. Since founding Impacks, the team has participated in multiple accelerators including gBETA, BETA and ILT Academy. After seeing high growth in their company over the last 3 years, Clare and Brandon are excited to take their platform even further with the help of Traction Capital.

As Impacks begins putting their investment to use, they plan to expand their team, grow their facilities, and further develop their platform.

Traction and Impacks are eager to continue working together as Impacks prepares for further expansion. With strong growth and an impressive team, Traction looks forward to helping Impacks succeed. “Clare and Brandon are quite impressive and a pleasure to work with. They’re thoughtful and on top of things. Always prepared when we meet and well thought out. Impacks will fix a problem that has not yet been addressed that will resolve a major piece of the back-to-school headaches parents struggle with. We’re excited to be a part of what they’re doing”, says Brian Cox, President and Integrator of Traction Capital.

Clean Waste Systems

Clean Waste Systems (“CWS”) has received a $500,000 investment from Traction Capital. The Maple Lake, MN based company manufactures and sells equipment utilizing its own proprietary, patented ozone technology for sterilizing infectious medical waste. The process uses significantly less energy and water to operate and produces a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions as traditional technologies currently in use today. Traction Capital looks forward to working with the company as they continue to grow.

Clean Waste Systems has been in business since 2011. The company is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its technology is approved in 30 states and has been licensed and is in use abroad. The company’s customers consist primarily of large hospitals and third-party medical waste processors.

Due to COVID, surgeries and other medical procedures that produce infectious medical waste were significantly curtailed the past few years, which, in turn, reduced hospital revenues and profits, which, in turn, reduced hospital budgets for any type of capital equipment acquisitions. “It’s been a rough couple of years,” said Peter Jude, one of the company’s founders, “but COVID appears to be largely behind us now and some of the sales that we were working on prior to 2020 seem to be getting back on track. Traction Capital had the foresight to see what we saw going forward and we’re really excited to have them on board with us.”

“Prior to their investment in our company, Traction Capital introduced us to EOS (The Entrepreneurial Operating System), and we’ve been using it since October of last year”, said Steve Pellegrene, also a founder of Clean Waste Systems. “We love the discipline and accountability that EOS has brought to us. It forces us to keep our eye on the ball and make sure that we have the right people in the right seats doing what is necessary to be successful. It’s a new day around here and we could not be more excited about our future.”

“We’re excited too.” said Shane Erickson, CEO and Managing Partner at Traction Capital. “We think CWS is going to be a big winner for us and for our investors. The ability to substantially reduce a hospital’s carbon footprint, along with ongoing operating expenses is huge. We believe the future is very bright for CWS and we’re delighted to be on board.”

Cash Flow Management for Small Businesses

By Carrie Emslander

What is cash flow?

Cash flow is a crucial aspect of any business, as it refers to the inflow and outflow of money. It’s the lifeblood of an organization and, if managed properly, can help ensure its long-term success. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at what cash flow is, why it’s important, and how you can manage it effectively.

Cash flow refers to the movement of money into and out of a business. It can be divided into two categories: positive and negative. Positive cash flow occurs when a business has more money coming in than going out, which is desirable. Negative cash flow, on the other hand, occurs when a business has more money going out than coming in. This can be due to seasonality, decrease in revenue, over-extension of expenses, and more.

Why is cash flow important?

Some of the top reported reasons for small business failure are connected to cash flow management, including undercapitalization, creditor problems, and slow collection of accounts receivable.

Cash flow is important because it determines the financial health of a business. If a business has positive cash flow, it has the financial stability to cover its expenses, make investments, and grow. However, if a business has negative cash flow, it may struggle to pay its bills, meet its financial obligations, and even stay in business.

Being aware of your cash flow allows you to better reach your financial goals, adds clarity, and helps alleviate concerns around money management. This is especially true for seasonal businesses or those with large cash swings.

Being aware of aging accounts receivable gives you an opportunity to attempt collection and avoids the problem of inflated profit statements or even insolvency.

Proper cash flow management helps you make good decisions and stay afloat. With proper cash flow management, you can avoid spending more than you are bringing in by forecasting any potential shortfalls. Shortfalls can be mitigated using better timing of expense or debt payments or being prepared with a backup line of credit or loan, or requiring advance payments from customers for products or services.

Tips

Managing cash flow effectively requires a combination of forecasting, budgeting, and planning. Here are some steps you can take to manage your cash flow effectively:

  1. Forecast your cash flow regularly: Regularly forecasting your cash flow can help you identify potential cash flow problems and take steps to address them before they become serious.
  2. Monitor your expenses: Keeping a close eye on your expenses can help you identify areas where you can reduce costs, freeing up more cash for other areas of the business.
  3. Improve your accounts receivable process: Making sure you get paid on time can have a big impact on your cash flow. You can improve your accounts receivable process by sending invoices promptly, following up on past due accounts, and offering incentives for early payment. In some cases, requiring deposits from customers for products or services, or offering a small discount for prepayment can go a long way.
  4. Increase your sales: Increasing your sales is a great way to improve your cash flow. You can do this by offering promotions, expanding your customer base, and improving the customer experience.
  5. Plan for the future: Having a solid plan in place for the future can help you manage your cash flow more effectively. This may include setting aside money for taxes, unexpected expenses, or future investments. Companies with tighter cash flow constraints need to look at cashflow projections on a monthly and weekly basis. Sometimes even daily.
  6. Find a mentor. An experienced business owner may be willing to share their experience with you. Groups like Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO – for companies over $1M in revenue) and EO Accelerator (companies with revenues of $250k-$1M) are great resources.
  7. Another option to solve cashflow is to work with an experienced group that not only provides financing but also has years of business experience to help guide you. At Traction Capital, we provide smart capital, are an Entrepreneurial team, and love to help companies and founders grow.

Cash flow is a crucial aspect of any business and managing it effectively can help ensure its long-term success. By forecasting your cash flow regularly, monitoring your expenses, improving your accounts receivable process, increasing your sales, and planning for the future, you can help ensure that your business has the financial stability it needs to succeed.

If you or someone you know is interested in raising capital, reach out to us at peyton@tractioncapital.com. In addition, be sure to watch our resources page for future blogs and startup events.  

Scribe

B2B marketing technology company, Scribe, has received a $400,000 investment from Traction Capital. The Minnesota based company provides businesses with handwritten notes scribed by robots to be mailed to customers. Traction Capital looks forward to working with the Scribe team as they continue to grow.

Scribe provides businesses with personalized, handwritten mailers for existing clients and lead generation. In addition to the letters, Scribe supplies its customers with segmented data farming, tracking numbers, and optimized ad copy. The mailers can be written in 20 different fonts with 20 variations of each letter, providing customers with an authentic letter. Once approved by their customer, Scribe can write and send the mailers within 48 hours.

“Here at Scribe, our bullish team’s vision is dedicated to creating an intimate, automated, personalized sales touch in a crowded digital world. The pairing of this principle with technology, marketing strategies, and strategic, data-driven white glove consulting, results in new a tool that connects business to their audiences. All with a track record other marketing channels or tools can’t match. Traction and its team have become the ideal partner in our vision. Their unique approach to supporting their founders is not only why we partnered, but why together, we will reach our disruptive goal, ” says James Schutrop, founder and CEO of Scribe.

With their recent investment, Scribe plans to scale their current model and team along with working to improve their product and portal interface and connecting directly to the top CRMs. All to create the gold standard of all automated nurturing touches.

Key advantages of Scribe’s solution include:

  • Fast and easy targeted campaigns
  • Trackable and profitable marketing
  • Increase in marketing ROI
  • Automated CRM triggered handwritten touches (Coming Soon)

Traction Capital and Scribe are excited to work hand in hand as the company’s success grows. With like-minded values, Traction looks forward to helping Scribe continue to expand their business. “As a business owner myself, I see a huge amount of value in handwritten notes to communicate with current and prospective customers. Scribe’s offering resonates with me, and I believe their product and service will be very successful. James Schutrop has a great vision for the company growth and enthusiasm for what he’s doing”, says Brian Cox, President of Traction Capital.

Top 15 VC (Venture Capital) Terms Every Founder Needs to Know

By Ellie Pigott

1. Liquidation Preference

Liquidation Preference refers to the order of which the investors in the company get paid in the event the company goes under. Typically the order is as follows; senior debt (long term loans- commercial banks, etc.), subordinated debt (seed funds, angel investor, venture capitalist and friends/family), preferred stock (investors other than the founder), and lastly common stock (founders and employees).  

 2. Deal Flow 

Deal flow describes the rate at which new investment opportunities are being presented to a company. Typically deal flow is evaluated quarterly but can be broken down and measured month to month or week by week. If a firm is experiencing high deal flow, this can make the environment more competitive for startups and make it more challenging to get a deal.  

 3. LOI (Letter of Intent)  

An LOI or Letter of Intent, is used in the later stage of a deal process. These documents can be very broad or in some cases very detailed. The more detailed LOIs outline what a deal would look like and present the terms for both parties to agree on. A VC will offer this document to a startup they’re pursuing and once the terms can be agreed on and signed, the firm will begin the process to move the deal to close.  

 4. Terms Sheet 

Similar to the LOI, the term sheet outlines the specifics of the deal. Depending on the depth on the LOI, the terms sheet may include a lot of the same information. A terms sheet will include details on equity, liquidation, board structure, dividends and more.

5. Pre Money vs Post Money Valuation  

Pre Money valuation is the value of the company before the investment is made. This number is typically negotiated between the VC and the startup, as it helps to determine what percent equity the VC firm will receive. Post Money Valuation is the value of the company after the investment (pre money value + investment amount = post money value). For example, if a startup is valued at $1.5 million before the investment, and a firm invests $1 million, the pre money value is $1.5 million and the post money value is $2.5 million. When calculating ownership of the company, VC’s will base their ownership on the post money valuation.  

 6. Burn Rate  

Burn Rate refers to the rate at which a company deploys their capital. To calculate burn you can take your starting balance – existing balance / your number of months. Although burn rates vary depending on industry, a general rule of thumb is to keep your burn rate near 1/12 of your available cash. Ensuring you have enough cash on hand to make it through the year.  

7. Churn Rate  

Churn is often used with SaaS companies and apps, as it refers to the customers they’re losing at a monthly or annual rate and the associated revenue being lost. For an existing company, 6-8% annual churn is average, but for startups an average annual churn is closer to 45% (which breaks down to about 7% monthly). 

 8. Bootstrapping  

Bootstrapping is slang for being completely self-funded, or “pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps,” meaning building the business from the ground up only using personal or family funds. This can also be shown through the flexing of personal skills and knowledge to build the business with existing resources.  

 9 . Convertible Note 

A convertible note, otherwise known as convertible debt, begins as debt in the form of a loan from an investor and later is converted to equity. The number of shares received depends on the amount of the loan, plus interest that has accrued, and whether a conversion discount is in place. A conversion discount would allow the investor to purchase the shares at a cheaper price than the current valuation, giving them an incentive for loaning money at an earlier stage. This form of financing can help the deal move quicker while also helping to avoid fees on either party (investor or investee).  

 10. Due Diligence  

Due diligence is the research done by the VC firm before investing in the company. This can be done at multiple stages in the process, and will typically include research on competitors, founder experience, traction and more. Due diligence in the later stages of a deal process will also include more financial and legal vetting.  

11. Down Round  

A down round refers to an additional raise after the previous use of funds did not yield the expected performance, or there was a change in the market. Since the company did not perform as well as expected, this next round of shares will be sold at a cheaper price. This can be seen with early startups who set their valuations too high and can range all the way to highly successful and established startups whose growth has slowed after increasing at an exponential rate. A down round is viewed as negative by prior investors as their investment has now been “marked down” or decreased in value. It is important to have the “right” priced valuations to avoid a down round.  

 12. EBIT/EBITDA Multiple 

EBIT and EBITA stand for Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization. When determining a company’s trajectory from a growth standpoint and a return on investment perspective, the EBIT/EBITDA multiple can determine its value. The multiple used can be calculated in a variety of different ways including taking the enterprise value divided by EBIT, or by looking at the multiples of companies in the same industry or who use the same model. EBIT/EBITDA is typically used in more mature companies raising funds or exiting, as opposed to earlier stage companies raising a Seed or Series A round and may still be burning cash and not yet profitable. 

 13. Entrepreneur in Residence  

An entrepreneur in residence is an individual with experience successfully running a business, who supplies a startup with advice and knowledge on how to help their company. This can be done as a hired mentor or even make the entrepreneur in residence the temporary CEO. In the case of becoming the temporary CEO, the EIR is usually brought on by a VC firm either at the time of the investment or acquisition.  

 14. Use of Capital 

Use of capital is exactly what it sounds like, it describes how the capital will be used. This is extremely important when talking to investors because they want to know that you have a plan for using their funds in an effective manner. This can be a variety of things but the most common are growing the team through hiring, investing in building out the platform or product, scaling production, etc.  

 15. Option Pool 

Option pool describes the set of shares set aside for current and future employees. Giving key employees a small share in the company is often done as part of their employment package because startups typically cannot afford larger salaries. This helps startups remain competitive with larger companies who may be able to offer higher employment compensation.  

 

If you or someone you know is interested in raising capital, reach out to us at peyton@tractioncapital.com. In addition, be sure to watch our Resources page for future blogs and startup events.  

Delve Health

 Delve Health on Track to Transform Clinical Trials Worldwide

Traction Capital has invested in an on-going partnership with a local Minnesota MedTech company with experience in clinical studies around the world. Delve Health reduces clinical trial costs and accelerated drug development by bringing the trials to patient homes, enabling more accurate data collection, and processing from wearables, digital health apps and sensors. The Minneapolis venture capital firm looks forward to helping the company continue their expansion.

Delve Health’s end-to-end solution combines web, mobile, SMS and wearables to make clinical trials more accessible to a broader group of patients to increase patient diversity and engagement. Ultimately, Delve Health’s technology platform improves clinical trial outcomes for pharma and medical device companies.

“We are very excited about partnering with Traction Capital. Their investment will allow us to nearly double our staff, while updating and strengthening our platform—all of which will allow us to continue to effectively help patients around the world” says Wessam Sonbol, co-founder and CEO of Delve Health. Delve Health has already supported 100+ studies and 26 registries in a variety of therapeutic areas. Their clients include medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotech manufacturers; clinical research organizations (CROs); as well as specific therapeutic area organizations.

The founders, Wessam Sonbol and Tamer Swidan, each have over 20 years of experience in healthcare and technology industries—making them extremely qualified to enter the MedTech world. With big goals on the horizon, they are looking to hire for a variety of positions, including individuals with expertise in sales, marketing, operations, and software development. Follow Delve Health as well as Traction Capital’s LinkedIn pages for more details and up-to-date information.

As they begin putting their investment to use, they plan to grow their team, expand their marketing efforts, and continue to work on product enhancements.

Key advantages of Delve Health’s solution include:

  • Access to a large, diverse patient pool
  • Reduction in patient burden and increase in patient data
  • Minimized patient dropouts

Traction Capital and Delve Health are delighted to partner in pursuit of this growth opportunity. With similar principles, Traction Capital looks forward to helping Delve Health enhance their values and achieve high growth. “The Traction Capital team is looking forward to working with Delve Health as they remain focused on growing their business and making clinical trials more accessible to a greater number of people. We believe the industry is ready to embrace Delve Health’s innovative solution to virtual and hybrid clinical trials (e.g., decentralized clinical trials (DCTs)), which is validated by their growing number of contracts with major clinics around the world. We are excited to work with Wessam and his team as we implement processes and leverage our experienced network to add value and grow the business,” says Shane Erickson, Founder and Managing Partner of Traction Capital.

 

How to Grow Your Startup During a Labor Shortage

By Ellie Pigott

In the midst of a labor shortage, seeking the right talent for your startup may seem intimidating. But you might be in luck.

People are leaving their jobs because they want something new and different, and working for a startup that shares their values could be a strong point of attraction.

Attracting good talent doesn’t always have to mean fancy offices and catered lunch. We’ll outline five key things to keep in mind when hiring during this unpredictable time.

1.     Offer Remote Work

In a post-pandemic world remote working has become very normalized. In 2022, statistics show nearly 60% of Americans work at least part time remotely. While it is important to have rapport between team members, offering optional remote is a great way to keep up with today’s changing societies.

If you haven’t yet integrated this or you’re wary of committing to fully remote, offer some in between options. Set a two or three day a week minimum for in office work and let your work force determine the rest of the week.

Even if you may think your employees prefer working in person, giving them the power to choose allows them to feel like a more valued member of your company.

However, be careful when offering this, don’t throw around promises you can’t keep. If the kind of work you’re seeking requires someone fully in person, be upfront.

2.   Develop a Strong Mission, Vision and Values

More than ever, people are seeking work that they align with, not just from a skillset perspective, but with their mission as well.

Has your company dedicated time to construct your mission statement? If so, is that mission statement somewhere potential employees can see it?

Displaying your mission statement on your website or LinkedIn is a great way to show people what you’re about when they’re considering applying. It’s important that your mission statement actually holds your values. A generic mission statement isn’t any better than not having one at all.

Take Patagonia for example, their mission is to “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to protect nature, and not bound by convention”.

People strive to work for their company not just because they have openings in product design, but because their personal values align with that of the company’s.

By having a mission statement or core values and showcasing them in your job description, you’ll be more likely to find candidates who align with your work. This then increases the chances of them sticking around.

3.   Don’t Sacrifice Values for Convenience

When the need for labor is high it can be easy to sacrifice values for a quick and easy hire. However, this type of convenient mistake can often lead to high turnover and dissatisfaction by both the employer and the employee.

Your company’s values are at the core of what you do, if you don’t have employees that align with them it’s impossible to be confident in their ability to deliver on those values to your customers.

Remember, values are soft skills that greatly affect someone’s work but can’t be taught. On the contrary, hard skills may be more directly related to the specific position but can be learned by someone who may not be an expert.

If someone is a good fit for your company but lacks some of the hard skills in your job description, consider finding ways to incorporate that needed hands-on learning in their first month of onboarding.

4.  Include Statements to Deter People

A large contributor to the labor shortage is employees being unhappy in their jobs or employees leaving their jobs shortly after accepting due to being misled.

Oftentimes the job description does not fit the reality. To help avoid this turnover many businesses are turning to “what we’re not” statements.

This sets realistic expectations with those applying. Some companies will even go as far as to include statements like “you are not the right fit if you…”. While it may sound harsh to some, you’re saving yourself time in the interview process by weeding out people who don’t meet your company’s needs.

By including “what we’re not” statements, you’re establishing a level of trust and honesty with the applicants. You’re being upfront in ways other companies aren’t and you’re saving them time that they could use to apply for jobs they might be a better fit for.

5.   Provide More Than a Salary

Fair compensation and benefits are a must, but nowadays employees are looking for more.

Consider what additional unique advantages your company can provide. This could be strategic growth, individualized mentorship, extra certifications relevant to the role, and more.

The level at which a potential employee feels they can grow as an individual may be the deciding factor between your company and another. Being “taken care of” by an employer has an entirely new meaning than it did 20 years ago.

Your company might be their next job but it’s unlikely to be their last. They want to know your company is dedicated to their growth. And when the time comes, they’ll be prepared for whatever comes next.

The Next Step

With a toolkit of good practices in mind it’s time to start drafting your job description. Remember that transparency and honesty are both at the core of finding a great new member of your team.

By being open about your company’s values, growth opportunities and offerings, you’ll be sure to find a candidate who aligns well with your role.

If you have specific questions about hiring or how to help your startup succeed, reach out to us at peyton@tractioncapital.com.

TroutRoutes

Traction Capital has invested in a Minnesota Technology company revolutionizing the way people fly fish. The company provides anglers with the knowledge and technology to optimize their trout fishing experience. The Minneapolis venture capital firm looks forward to helping TroutRoutes grow their platform as they tackle the U.S market.

TroutRoutes is revolutionizing a sport that began over 1,000 years ago. Their mobile app and desktop service provides anglers with maps of public streams, water conditions, access points, elevation levels, GPS services, locations of local fly shops and more.

“What we’re most excited about is the mentorship and integrated approach to Traction as a capital partner,” says TroutRoutes founder Zach Pope. “The next phase of our project will require more than an early product and an excited early adopter cohort; we’ll need structure, process and people and I can’t think of a better partner for this than Traction Capital and the leadership with Shane Erickson.”

TroutRoutes is already active in 33 states and has mapped over 25,000 streams. With over 100,000 users, they are changing the way new and accomplished anglers experience trout fishing.

Founder Zach Pope is an avid trout angler himself and noticed firsthand the opportunity in the market. In addition to angling, Pope also has experience in technology engineering and management in the medical device space with a Masters in Management of Technology from the University of Minnesota. TroutRoutes has grown rapidly in 2022 and now has 4 employees, with several active openings in technology (software engineering), marketing and operations.

As TroutRoutes begins putting their investment to use, they plan to grow their team, expand to the rest of the U.S and continue to work on product enhancement.

Key advantages of TroutRoutes include:

  • Every trout stream with proprietary rating system
  • Public land access
  • GPS and Navigation
  • 750,000 Designated Access Points
  • Real-time Stream Flows and Elevation Map
  • Personal Notebook (make notes, create markers, plan trips)

Traction Capital and TroutRoutes are excited to join forces during this period of rapid growth. With strong entrepreneurial spirit, Traction Capital looks forward to helping Zach grow his team with more like-minded, hardworking individuals. “Zach is an incredibly smart and driven individual. The Traction Capital team and I are very impressed by the platform he’s developed and can’t wait to see the company accelerate as he grows his team,” says Shane Erickson, Founder and Managing Partner of Traction Capital.

Saltbox

B2B sales company, Saltbox, has received a $500,000 investment from Traction Capital to finish out their $675,000 raise. The Minneapolis-based company is revolutionizing the way B2B organizations improve the buying experience of their customers. As Saltbox continues to grow, Traction Capital looks forward to working closely with their team.

Saltbox is a Salesforce startup that helps to digitize, personalize and automate a B2B consumer’s buying experience. With their extensive knowledge of Salesforce, they are able to improve storefront experiences and purchases, in addition to streamlining order management. As B2B buyer personas shifts, B2B buyers are expecting more B2C– like experiences and Saltbox assists organizations in identifying and catering to that shift.

“The investment and partnership from Traction Capital will play a pivotal role in helping Saltbox accelerate our mission of helping B2B companies reimagine the buying experiences of their customers through the use of Salesforce. I’m also excited to bring Traction’s experience as operators to our board of directors, as their guidance will be just as important as their capital as we look to scale the business and capitalize on the tremendous opportunity for rapid growth that the salesforce ecosystem provides,” says David Blue, founder of Saltbox.

The company strives to deliver engaging, frictionless, B2C-like buying experiences to their customers. Unlike their competitors, Saltbox specializes in B2B commerce and order management, with capabilities spanning the entire Salesforce platform. Their expertise and ability to serve end-to-end buyer transformation use-cases also helps them stand out. Saltbox’s three main industries of focus include manufacturing/consumer goods, high-tech/software and medical devices/pharma.

For the immediate future David’s focus will be expanding their software, growing their team, and continuing to innovate within the company. They are currently hiring a Salesforce Account Executive, multiple positions within the delivery organization, and will continue to post as more positions become available. Check out their LinkedIn for more details.

Both experts in their field, Traction Capital and Saltbox are eager to join forces. “We are excited by David’s extensive experience in the field and his ambition to make Saltbox succeed. Traction Capital looks forward to helping Saltbox grow their team and continue to innovate with the implementation of EOS. Our Traction team believes Saltbox has what it takes to transform the way B2B organizations interact and we are eager to help them accomplish that,” says Shane Erickson, founder and Managing Partner of Traction Capital.

Froogle

Traction Capital has invested $500,000 in Froogle, a Software company that focuses on the hospitality industry. The company utilizes its location-based technology and online ordering software to help small and medium sized businesses draw in new consumers while also saving money and manpower. The Minneapolis venture capital firm is excited to be a key partner in Froogle’s growth and development.

Froogle is a SaaS startup that uses its technology to enable restaurants to offer mobile contactless order and pay for pickup and delivery. This software is free for businesses to use. Froogle also assists with social media, marketing/advertising and web development, this lessens the marketing hassle for restaurants and helps them compete with their larger competitors.

“When I met Shane and Brian at Traction Capital I felt they understood the vision of Froogle and what it offers to small and medium size businesses. I am extremely impressed with Traction Capital, their knowledge and support in growing businesses is what attracted me to them. Froogle’s Free online ordering software and assistance in helping with marketing, advertising and web development takes a lot of pressure off the small business owner.  We are growing so fast that we are seeing 15-20% month to month growth,” says, Michael Juszczak ,founder and CEO of Froogle.

Froogle currently has clients across 25 states and they have seen over a 90% retention rate. As Froogle continues to grow, they are looking to hire 8 employees in a variety of different roles including sales, social media manager and a content manager. Keep an eye on Froogle as well as Traction Capital’s LinkedIn for more details.

Key advantages and features of Froogle include:

  • Free White label ecommerce platform
  • Online marketing
  • Web development
  • Social Media Engagement
  • Cost Reduction for restaurants

Traction and Froogle are excited to focus on growth and more national expansion. With both companies’ EOS backgrounds, the joining of forces will only drive more success. “Mike and Corey of Froogle specifically sought out our Traction Capital team at Twin Cities Startup Week in fall of 2021. Their experience and interest in running Traction EOS aligns perfectly with Traction Capital’s thesis and value add. Mike and Corey are hustlers, go getters and have what it takes to be successful with Froogle in a high demand marketplace, while adding value to their customers,” says Brian Cox, Integrator and President at Traction Capital.