Barbershop scheduling app SQUIRE continues to grow amid its success with users according to its latest funding round. A press release reports that SQUIRE Technologies, Inc. — the only full scale barbershop management and POS system of its kind — has raised a $60 million Series D, bringing its total raised since launching to roughly $165 million, thus tripling its valuation to $750 million overall. The funding round was led by Tiger Global, with participation from existing investors such as ICONIQ Capital, Charles River Ventures and Trinity Ventures. Since 2015, SQUIRE has been offering its unique slate of services to benefit shop owners looking to scale their businesses and clientele, allowing them to cut back on time spent managing back office operations. With its new funding, the company plans to expand its engineering teams and increase sales as it continues to grow exponentially beyond its existing markets. “Our software helps our customers with nearly every workflow in their...

Looking to learn how to get people to invest in your business? Look no further because the first annual KINETIC Conference (KINETIC-CON) takes place Saturday, April 10, 2021. “KINETIC is a platform that allows entrepreneurs to find funding,” said the organization’s co-founder Kevin Johnson. In research that was recently published by the Kauffman Foundation, studies show that “nine in ten (92%) reported that funds to start the business was challenging and close to the same share (86%) reported that funds to grow the business was challenging.” Johnson believes the road to funding isn’t easy for Black founders because their white counterparts responsible for the investing stages don’t recognize that they may disclose preconceived biases. “A lot of times you can’t see what’s in front of your face because you’re blinded by the biases,” continued Johnson. “Specifically implicit biases that have been built up over hundreds of years. Investors need to realize what biases they bring to the...

Funding isn’t a one-time deal for most startups. It’s common for startups to raise capital via multiple funding rounds, each being a step above the previous. Even when a startup achieves success in a lower round, they continue to raise capital via consecutive rounds in efforts to scale their business to new heights. So, what are funding rounds? How do they work? How do you determine how many funding rounds are appropriate for your startup? We’re glad you asked. Here’s all you need to know: What is a funding round? Essentially, a funding round is a period of time where a startup sets out to raise capital in order to achieve a goal or milestone. In between funding rounds, the startup will continue to improve via sales, digital impressions, or adding new team members to increase the overall valuation, which is evaluated and assessed by potential investors. There is no standard amount of time between funding rounds which is usually determined by founders who feel their valuation has...