Thumbtack.com tacks on $1.2M in funding

Ronny Kerr · June 10, 2010 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/101e

Juice Pitcher winner from 2009 raises $1.2 million round from prominent angel investors

thumbtack.comThumbtack.com, an online marketplace for finding and listing local services like guitar lessons or product photography, announced on Wednesday the closing of a $1.2 million round of funding from a long list of prominent angel investors.

The San Francisco-based startup had previously raised $500,000 from two of the founders of Logitech and an Angie’s List angel investor.

Over 40,000 service professionals have joined Thumbtack since it launched in December 2009. Because service providers must themselves create a profile on the site (Thumbtack doesn't pull businesses from phone book listings, for example), that number is doubly impressive.

Thumbtack was the first startup to win in one of Vator.tv's startup competitions when it took home the gold at the October 2009 Juice Pitcher event.

At Juice Pitcher, digital media investment banker Ezra Roizen voiced the concern that Thumbtack might have trouble initially attaining a "critical mass" of local service providers in individual regions, which was duly noted by CEO Marco Zappacosta. Zappacosta at the time said his startup would initially focus on San Francisco before moving onto other venues.

Now, Thumbtack reports that it has listings for plumbing in Los Angeles, wedding officiants in Chicago, dance lessons in New York, and thousands of nationwide long-tail services like glamour horse photography.

The new funds will be used to expand Thumbtack's team, add email marketing and appointment management features, and enhance the Personal Concierge service.

Here's a list of all the angels that contributed to the new round of financing: Scott & Cyan Banister (PayPal & Zivity), Joshua Schachter (Delicious), Jason Calacanis (WebBlogs & Mahalo), Mark Britto (Amazon), Scott Faber (Ingenio), Mark Goines (Intuit & Mint), Auren Hoffman (RapLeaf), Ariel Poler (l/PRO & Topica), Ali & Hadi Partovi (LinkExchange, Tellme Networks & iLike), Vance Bjorn (DigitalPersona), Denis Grosz (wiseGEEK), and Yan-David Elrich (ChoiceVendor).

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Thumbtack.com

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

Thumbtack helps you accomplish the personal projects that are central to your life.

Whether you need to paint your home, learn a new language, or plan your daughter's birthday party, Thumbtack is the easiest and most dependable way to hire the right professional for your projects.

Get started by answering a few questions about your specific needs. Within hours, Thumbtack will introduce you to several available and qualified professionals. Compare custom quotes, reviews, and profiles and hire when you’re ready.

By connecting customers like you to the right pros, we enable independent professionals to grow their businesses and do what they love. We’re proud that many of our pros have doubled or even tripled the size of their businesses through Thumbtack.

Thumbtack is available nationwide for more than 700 project categories.

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Marco Zappacosta

Joined Vator on

Marco Zappacosta is a Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Thumbtack.
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Ezra Roizen

Joined Vator on

Advisor-to and commenter-on emerging ventures

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