A San Diego tech startup that was already growing quickly before the pandemic is now booming — thanks, in part, to the effects of COVID-19.
The Mission Valley startup, called GoSite, just raised $16 million from tech investors, which it will use to double its staff in San Diego over the next 12-18 months. That’s notable, considering the 7-year-old company already employs 150 full-time workers and 250 total, all of them in San Diego.
GoSite announced the new round Monday, along with the recruitment of a new executive from a multibillion-dollar software giant in Boston, signaling a new phase for the company. Frank Auger is ing GoSite as its new chief customer officer. He comes from HubSpot, a $12 billion software company, where he served as its chief information officer.
Founded by San Diegan Alex Goode when he was in his mid-20s, GoSite makes software that sets up an online presence for small businesses. GoSite was already growing quickly last year when it moved into a new headquarters and began aggressively hiring. But in the past few months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, GoSite saw a 70 percent increase in customer acquisition. That’s likely due to the catastrophic effects of the shutdown orders, forcing many businesses to do their work online — or do no business at all.
“Using a digital platform has gone from being a nice-to-have to an absolute must-have,” Goode said.
GoSite’s tech does the heavy lifting of managing online business, making it easier for local, small businesses to show up when customers search for services.
“We instantly launch a complete digital presence for them, connecting the business to all major consumer platforms like Google, Yelp, Siri, Alexa, Google Maps, Apple Maps,” Goode said. “We give them a modern website. Essentially, we open their doors online.”
Business owners can then interact with customers through GoSite’s dashboard, giving them one place to do things like messaging, online booking or transacting online.
Now more than ever, GoSite’s software has value to small-business owners. Goode said he’s targeting “local main street” companies: retail shops, restaurants, dentists, doctors and home services, among others.
GoSite’s suite of tools is not novel. They’re operating in a very crowded marketplace, with countless players offering similar tools or platforms. Managing your social messages all in one place is done by brand management and marketing companies like San Diego-based SOCI. There are dozens of software companies making payment features, such as Clover Go or Square. And content management systems are plentiful.
But GoSite’s tech is cheap, which is particularly appealing during an economic downturn. The startup charges small businesses a monthly subscription to use its tools, ranging from free to $200 per month, depending on what the client needs. Goode said the startup now has 6,000 customers nationwide, with customers in every state.
The new round of funding will go toward hiring, product development and marketing. The investment was led by local tech investors Longley Capital, with participation from Stage 2 Capital.
