Likeable Local helps small businesses do social media effectively. What’s not to like? At Lighter Capital, we definitely give them the thumbs up—and today we announced our investment of $500K into the company to help them grow their business.
Likeable Local CEO Dave Kerpen, author of New York Times best-selling books Likeable Social Media, Likeable Business, and Likeable Leadership, founded the firm in 2012 as an extension of his thriving marketing company Likeable Media.
For owners of a small independent business, social media is often the key to success, but it’s one more daily task on top of everything else you need to do to run your company. With Likeable Local’s flagship product Likeable Hub, you can automate many of the time-consuming tasks that are part and parcel of a social media strategy. Service professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, as well as retail outlets and restaurants are among the 1,000+ customers that use the product to save time and reduce the need to bring in resources to manage their social media presence. Likeable Local recently also welcomed the popular Papa John’s restaurant franchise to its roster of clients.
“We looked at a number of financing options, from venture capital, to unsecured debt, to angels,” says Kerpen, “but we chose the revenue-based model from Lighter Capital because we could keep the equity and still have the flexibility we wanted with our cash flow. We also like that Lighter Capital does follow-on funding rounds that we can have a long-term financing partner.”
Headquartered in New York, Likeable Local also has an office in Portland, Maine, where it wants to grow to more than 100 employees within five years. In addition to hiring new team members, Likeable Local will be able to use the $500,000 in funding to invest in marketing and sales.
“We have been truly impressed with how Likeable Local has grown in the past year and a half,” says Molly Otter, our Chief Investment Officer. “And I’m from New England, so I love that they are expanding in Portland, Maine, which is a market with a lot of potential. We look forward to providing capital to Likeable Local in the long run.”
Learn more about Likeable Local, like them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter @likeablelocal