Pocketed has raised a $1 million seed round led by Mike Volker’s WUTIF Capital, with participation from more than a dozen investors including Hustle Fund, Women’s Equity Lab and New Avenue Capital.
The rapidly growing Vancouver startup has created an intelligent matching platform and marketplace to connect businesses to billions of dollars in grants and tax credits.
Since launching its core product in February 2021, Pocketed has helped more than 2,000 SMEs secure over $10 million in grant funding. Additionally, the company’s 100% application success rate provides businesses with the confidence and peace of mind that each application will result in funding.
The new injection of capital will allow the Vancouver-based startup to expand across the USA, hire additional talent to support its growth, and attract more SMEs to both its platform and marketplace.
Pocketed was co-founded in 2020 by Aria Hahn and Brianna Blaney.
“The last year has proven to be both a challenge and a blessing to Pocketed. Our company was born in a pandemic, out of the ashes of the economic hardship that forced us to close the doors of our last venture. While it’s always hard to leave behind a project you’ve invested time, energy, and heart into, you never move on empty handed,” says Blaney told New Ventures BC.
“In fact, the idea for Pocketed came from our own frustrations trying to navigate non-dilutive funding for our last business. When we started to dive into the problem, we quickly learned that we weren’t alone in experiencing these pains – and now we have the opportunity to solve it for everyone!”
According to Pocketed there is $5.9 billion in grant funding and tax credits available to Canadian businesses each year.
In addition to helping entrepreneurs identify relevant funding opportunities, Pocketed’s one-stop-shop platform connects companies to a variety of supportive services including grant writers, financial lenders, and legal teams to ensure applications are successful.
Pocketed has already made deep inroads across the national tech sector, securing over 60 strategic alliances with organizations like MaRS, League of Innovators, and Accelerate Okanagan.
Pocketed has also attracted over 60 vendors to its marketplace, including Boast AI, Stratesol, and Ayming, and is developing a channel partnership with Clearco.
“At Pocketed, we’re breaking down financial barriers for all entrepreneurs,” says Dr. Aria Hahn, CTO and Co-Founder of Pocketed.
“Our free and easy-to-use platform and marketplace eliminate the frustrations that businesses encounter when navigating the fragmented grant ecosystem. With this new round of funding, we’re ready to expand our reach and support SMEs
all over North America.”
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