Hownd Closes $1.8M Seed Round with SunChase Capital

TEMPE, Ariz. - EntSun -- Hownd® (formerly FetchRev) has received $1.8 million in seed round funding from SunChase Capital as its lead investor as well as an additional $1.2 million in capital from Phoenix-area angels.

Hownd, a Foot Traffic Generation platform that generates profitable guest visits for local businesses, will use the funds primarily for targeted domestic expansion through its Affinity Programs, channel partners, and direct sales, as well as international expansion through its Latin American and European partners.

"This funding enables Hownd to increase awareness of our new brand, further accelerate the year-over-year growth we've already experienced, and create and command the new Foot Traffic Generation category we're establishing," says Brandon Willey, the company's CEO.

"In addition to expanding our domestic and international footprint, the capital will be used to achieve key strategic and scalable initiatives; hire additional staff in sales, marketing, business development, customer success, and engineering; and enhance the Hownd platform for local merchants and our MyHownd™ consumer mobile app," added Willey.

The new Hownd platform and its MyHownd app, which both launched last month, are quickly gaining traction in the family entertainment, amusements & attractions, health & beauty, food & beverage, and car care markets the company is focused on serving.

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Early successes include its partnerships with Local First Arizona, Better Business Bureau Pacific Southwest, and Tempe Chamber of Commerce; its rollout of the Hownd for the Holidays™ campaign that drives more foot traffic to local businesses during the upcoming holiday shopping season; and a number of value-add system integration and agency partners that serve local merchants, including Virtuix, Party Center Software, PartyWirks, CenterEdge, Trustworkz, WDD, Aluvii, and Avius.

Focused on the success of local business owners, Hownd delivers targeted promotions to a merchant's existing and new nearby consumers through an elegant combination of web, social media, and email distribution channels, as well as the MyHownd app. The company's other game-changer is its patent-pending Pay-Per-Visit™ (PPV) billing system that, when combined with an available zero-risk plan, means merchants only pay when Hownd brings customers through their doors.

The company, which has served thousands of local merchants and more than 40 million consumers throughout North America and beyond, differentiates itself from group-buying deal sites and offer portals. "Other platforms are outdated and bleed merchants dry by demanding an unfair revenue share, not to mention requiring an impractical amount of time, effort and investment on the part of a local business owner," explains Willey. "Hownd provides quantifiable, attributable and sustainable long-term value to local businesses; minimizes their effort and costs; and increases their real revenue from profitable foot traffic."

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"We were attracted to Hownd because Brandon and his team are heads-down focused on the fundamentals needed for rapid growth," says Joe Clancy of SunChase Capital. "In turn, the Hownd platform accelerates the growth of its business customers, including a lot of great merchants here in the West." SunChase Capital provides growth capital to expanding businesses with a focus on business services and electronic payments.

Hownd had a significant presence at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo in Orlando that was held Nov. 18-21. The company was a Gold Sponsor and had a 1,200 square foot exhibit space called "Hownd Square" where owners and operators of family entertainment centers learned more about the platform. Over 100 new customers signed up at the event.

Hownd is a finalist for the Phoenix Business Journal's Best Places to Work for the second year in a row in our category. Finalists and winners are chosen among hundreds of Phoenix-area companies based on many factors such as dynamic leadership, benefits, perks, employee engagement, culture and more! We are honored to be a finalist among other elite companies.

Learn more at hownd.com, request a demo at demo@hownd.com, or call 877-394-2410 for more information. Suppliers interested in working with Hownd can contact them at info@hownd.com.