Homebase adds Keith Rabois to its Board along with raising $6m in Series A financing led by Khosla Ventures

– USA, CA – Homebase, a technology provider that makes hourly work easier for the whole team, today announced $6 million in Series A financing. Khosla Ventures led the round, with Baseline Ventures and Cowboy Ventures also following on an earlier investment. Keith Rabois – elemental in the growth of PayPal, Square, Yelp and other local business brands – joins the board as part of Khosla’s investment.

“We built Homebase to make life easier for every hardworking business owner, manager and team member—not just those sitting behind desks or working at big chains. It’s 2016 and no one should be managing their team or work-life on paper,” said John Waldmann, Homebase CEO and cofounder. “We are excited to see how many people are saving time with our free scheduling and time-tracking tools, and are now able to focus on the important things. With this fundraise, we hope to bring this impact to even more businesses.”

Since launching out of beta last year, Homebase has rapidly grown to serve more than 50,000 local businesses, with customers in all 50 states. Homebase customers range from an independently owned bookstore in Rockland, Maine; to a local’s favorite fish-shack off of Ka’anapali Beach in Maui, Hawaii; to growing coffee chains like Philz Coffee with 33 locations.

The tools quickly become essential to the full team at these businesses, driven by core features that:
Simplify Payroll and Scheduling: Homebase has tracked more than 20 million shifts
Ease Team Communication: over one million messages each month remind teammates of upcoming shifts or the latest schedule, or alert managers to personal requests, etc.
Free Time: on average, customers report saving five hours each week on administrative tasks using Homebase’s free tools.

“There’s been so much innovation on the parts of local business that we see as customers, but the service side has been trapped working without easy tools,” said Rabois. “Homebase’s rapid growth from positive word of mouth shows how excited these teams are to replace phone trees and paper charts with easy apps. Homebase has grown faster than any other we’ve seen in the space, and is already serving more businesses than industry leaders like OpenTable – a huge testament to how easy it is for businesses to get started and how quickly it becomes essential.”

The new funding will accelerate team growth and product development to help Homebase work with even more local business customers, who drive almost a third of the American economy.

“We considered many software options for Philz, and Homebase was the company that approached retail scheduling the right way,” said Jacob Jaber of Philz Coffee. “They have a great vision and have made work easier for our team members. The people and service are top-notch.”

“Ninety percent of the businesses that have signed up for Homebase were previously using a paper schedule or basic tools like excel to handle repetitive and complicated tasks like scheduling and timesheets,” said Rushi Patel, Homebase co-founder.

“Homebase now serves as a free assistant manager that sits in their pocket, handling many of the administrative tasks automatically.”

About Homebase

Homebase makes hourly work easier for the whole team. With free online tools and mobile apps for managers and employees, Homebase eliminates the paperwork and headaches of scheduling, payroll, and team communication. Based in San Francisco, Calif., Homebase is made up of former baristas, small business owners, waiters– and even the former head of HR from a national chain restaurant – who have gone on to build products at some of local businesses’ most trusted brands, including Intuit, OpenTable, and Yelp. Homebase is backed by Baseline Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Khosla Ventures and others who know local business and have helped great companies scale, including Instagram, Square, and Yelp.

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