Late last year, a serial entrepreneur and designer co-launched a startup in Vancouver that leverages artificial intelligence to help users create and manage their own business.
Durable is the brainchild of Vancouverites Ross Howard-Jones, James Clift, and Helio Bentes. Durable claims to launch a business in less than a minute using AI.
“If you run a solo business, you need a website. But up until now, website builders haven’t been great—even the ones with really good commercials,” the startup says.
They’re often cumbersome to work with and on top of that, you’ve got to find your own images, write your own copy etc.—all time-consuming. At the end, business owners may not even be happy with the result, notes Durable.
“It relates to a point I hear from aspiring and solo business owners all the time: the biggest barrier to starting or growing a business is the amount of time it takes to learn the tools you need to get there,” says cofounder Clift. “It’s tedious and costly work for anyone running a business. And it’s a daunting task for anyone looking to get started.”
Durable offers different products covering different aspects of the business, such as Website Builder, Invoicing, and CRM. It means the startup competes with a lot of different tech rivals who are more specialized in their offerings—but the all-in-one aspect is appealing these days.
“When you’re starting a business, the first step towards your first customer is going online to market your business,” notes Clift. “That step is now automated.”
One year in, Durable has raised more than US$6 million in capital across a pre-seed and seed round, according to a report from BetaKit.
The previously unannounced funding included investors Altman Capital, Torch Capital, Dash Fund, Infinity Ventures, and South Park Commons.
The company envisions a future with more small businesses—a world “where everyone can become an owner.”
“Whether it’s a side hustle or a full-time gig, we believe that owning a business can change everyone’s life,” Durable affirms.
So far, more than 25,000 websites have been built through the startup’s platform. Clift told BK he’d like that figure to be 100,000, then a million.
“We’re building this business to last, and want to help you do the same,” states the company.
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