Collective is a subscription-based back-office platform for sole proprietors founded in 2020 and has raised a $20 million Series A funding.
Who’s who of investors per Techcrunch:
“The round was led by General Catalyst and joined by Sound Ventures (the venture capital fund founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary). Collective has now raised a total of $28.65 million. Other notable investors include: Steve Chen (founder YouTube), Hamish McKenzie (founder Substack), Aaron Levie (founder Box), Kevin Lin (founder Twitch), Sam Yam (founder Patreon), Li Jin (Atelier Ventures), Shadiah Sigala (founder HoneyBook), Adrian Aoun (founder Forward), Holly Liu (founder Kabam), Andrew Dudum (founder Hims) and Edward Hartman (founder LegalZoom).”
From the one and only Ashton Kutcher:
“We’re proud to be supporting a company that’s making it easier for creators to focus on what they do best by taking care of the back office work that creates so much friction for so many early entrepreneurs. I would have loved something like this when I was getting started.” Getting started in the entertainment industry? Ahh, nevermind.
Serving the business-of-one market
Other startups provide similar fintech services, but Collective wants to focus on the sole proprietors out there. CEO Hooman Radfar says: “We want to offer that same great value to the underserved business-of-one community, since they are the largest group of founders in the country.”
Pretty good pitch:
From Radfar: “Before Collective, consultants, freelancers, and other solo founders had to string together their back-office solution using DIY platforms like QuickBooks, Gusto, and LegalZoom. If they were lucky, they had the help of a part-time accountant to advise them. Collective makes handling finances easy with the first all-in-one platform that not only bundles these tools into one platform, but also provides the technology and team to optimize their tax savings like the pros.”
And from Niko Bonatsos, managing director of General Catalyst: “Collective is serving the $1.2 trillion business-of-one industry by building the first back-office platform that saves individuals significant time and money, while providing them with the appropriate tools and resources they need to help them succeed. We’re excited to support Collective as they expand their team and build an exceptional service for the business-of-one community.”
He gets the last word.
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