As of today, ZenBusiness has raised $200 million in our Series C funding round. This is one of those pinch-me moments you dream about as an entrepreneur, when you can finally shift from raising money to using it to grow your company in a whole new way.
That’s because ZenBusiness is on a mission to make life easier for entrepreneurs throughout America. We want to make starting a business accessible for everyone on their entrepreneurial journey. No longer should someone be concerned about their ability to start their own successful business. Our mission is rooted in deep feelings of empathy and justice—we believe that people who have dreams should be able to turn those dreams into reality.
We will change the way people work. No longer will people need to turn to their 9 to 5 to earn a living. They’ll turn to entrepreneurship, seeking a better life, knowing they can be happier. This dramatic increase in entrepreneurship has started. We expect to accelerate it and will not stop until that’s happened.
As entrepreneurs ourselves, we know that attaining that reality is hard. Those who have “made it” like to talk about how starting a business liberates you, gives you emotional well-being, and puts you on a financially better path—and all of that and more is true, but not right away, and sometimes, not for a long time.
Grounded in that knowledge, we built our business around three insights. We discovered that simply having different tools at your fingertips isn’t enough to succeed in running your own business. Tools aren’t helpful unless you know how to use them. Tools aren’t helpful unless they are integrated.
We also learned that 85 percent of people looking to start a business have never done so before. So, they turn to Google, to books, to podcasts, and sometimes even their friends, who are often just as inexperienced, for advice. With such a scattered approach, it’s all too easy for new entrepreneurs to lose their way.
And since most new entrepreneurs have little to no savings, they often put their own livelihood at risk or will even make the decision to go into debt. That’s a lot to take on and many people report feeling lonely and vulnerable. So vulnerable that they may feel like they are failing and can’t tell their family or friends.
Our solution? Be a trusted guide throughout the entire entrepreneurial journey. That’s why our all-in-one platform with embedded FinTech solutions equips new entrepreneurs with not only the best tools but also the expertise and the support they need to succeed. And we keep in close touch with our customers so that we can continue to evolve our products and services in ways that matter.
With this new round of funding, ZenBusiness will continue to invest in our guided platform offering that increases the chances that an entrepreneur will be successful with their business. We will accelerate our embedded FinTech capabilities, which provide the foundation for everything an entrepreneur needs to run their business.
No other company has made it this easy for people to manage their business in one place and turn their idea into a money-making business, guiding them from inspiration to achievement. During the pandemic it’s been inspiring to see people boldly cast off their traditional nine-to-five and join our movement in droves on a quest for greater flexibility and meaning in their lives.
Entrepreneurship is up—Americans filed paperwork to start 4.3 million businesses last year, a 24 percent increase from the year before and by far the most since the government began keeping track, according to the Census Bureau—and our base at ZenBusiness has soared 400 percent, and there’s no end in sight because together we are fundamentally changing the way people work in this country. With this new round of funding and a new year approaching, we welcome all of the courageous—those who are ready to take the plunge and be their own boss and those with heart who want to help us empower millions of people to create a better life—to join us.
We will bring zen to millions of entrepreneurs by giving them the confidence and focus they need to succeed.