$60 million in revenue. A $1 billion valuation. And so much more.
By Betsy Mikel (Editor, Women 2.0)
We can hardly stay on top of the stream of good news we’re hearing from members of the Women 2.0 community. Founders are making headlines left and right as they raise massive rounds of funding, expand to new markets and continue to innovate. “There’s a shift happening in this industry,” Women 2.0 co-founder and CEO Shaherose Charania said. “I can feel it.”
Here are just a few amazing updates that have caught our eye from tech founders in a wide range of industries, from fitness and freelancing to child support and social networking.
ClassPass on Track to Hit $60 Million in Revenue in 2015
ClassPass, the hottest new gym membership gives you the opportunity to try several classes each month à la carte, is quickly picking up steam — and cash. Now available in 30 cities, a ClassPass “membership” costs $99 each month. Members can take classes at any of the partner gyms in your city, which often include studios that offer specialized classes like spin, yoga or kickboxing.
“Last week alone, the company brought in $1.5 million and this month will exceed $5 million in top line revenue, all due to the 600,000 reservations made by ClassPass users over the course of February,” TechCrunch reported late February. Payal Kadakia launched her New York City startup in 2012 and landed $2 million in seed funding just about a year ago. Starting next week, ClassPass is going international and will be available in London, Toronto and Vancouver.
NextDoor Secures $110 Million and $1 Billion Valuation
The social network for neighbors, NextDoor helps members find everything from local babysitters to neighborhood break-ins in 53,000 neighborhoods across the United States. NextDoor recently announced on their company blog a $100 million round of funding. Re/Code says this now values Nextdoor at more than $1.1 billion.
Co-founder and Vice President of Marketing Sarah Leary made TechCrunch’s 40 Over 40 last year. She has helped grow Nextdoor from a single neighborhood in California. Now 35 percent of all neighborhoods in the U.S. rely on NextDoor, according to their company blog.
News From Past PITCH Finalists
At each Women 2.0 conference, we hold a PITCH competition for early-stage female-founded companies. Hundreds apply and the 10 finalists have five minutes to pitch their startup in front of venture capitalists. They compete for a prize package chock-full of resources to help set them up for success. Check out which of our PITCH finalists have raised funding, landed a spot in an incubator or been acquired. Here are a few recent updates from past PITCH finalists.
JobBliss, Angie Kramer
The 2014 San Francisco “How To” PITCH finalist was just featured in the Canadian Business Magazine and Profit Magazine in an article about how to harness the freelancer economy. JobBliss is a platform that connects companies with freelance advertising, development and design talent. How is it different than a recruiter? According to JobBliss, their “frictionless combination of talent search and job scheduling allows employers to efficiently manage their need for flexible staffing by building and maintaining a network of freelancers, eliminating the middleman and connecting them in real time, directly with ready-to-brief, ready-to-book, pre-vetted professionals.”
SupportPay, Sheri Atwood
Whether you’re paying child support or collecting it, keeping track of who owes what never goes as smoothly as you’d like. But it can. Our 2014 San Francisco PITCH winner makes it easy to divvy up child support payments.
Last month, SupportPay announced they were moving away from a subscription model and will now be free for all users. With the simple app, you can snap a receipt, add an expense or make a payment.
“Whether it’s a tough divorce or the most amicable split, most parents don’t realize how difficult it is to manage child support and shared expenses after the order or agreement is in place. As a child of divorce, I experienced the conflict firsthand – and wanted to make sure other children don’t have to experience what I did,” said Sheri Atwood.
Fiestah, Nurul Yahya
Our 2013 San Francisco PITCH finalist makes planning an epic party way less stressful. Visit the site to streamline the process of finding, booking and managing vendors.
Previously in beta, Fiestah.com is now open and has expanded beyond the New York City market. The recently launched in the DC metro, the Bay area and LA metro area. Fiestah is also expanding internationally to Santiago, Chile and was recently part of Start-Up Chile.
