Betterfly Secures Series A Funding From Lightbank

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Betterfly (http://betterfly.com), a website that matches people who want to learn, look and feel better with the people — not companies — who offer these services, announced today that it has secured a Series A round of capital funding from Lightbank, the Chicago-based investment vehicle created by Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell.

This funding marks Lightbank's first investment outside of the Chicago area and represents a significant milestone for Betterfly, despite the site being out of closed-beta for only three months. The capital infusion allows Betterfly to meet the high demand for its person-to-person search. The company will also add a Chicago office, in addition to maintaining its New York headquarters.

"We look forward to our partnership with Joshua and the Betterfly team, and to expanding Lightbank's footprint outside the Midwest," said Keywell, who along with Lefkofsky will join Betterfly's Board of Directors.

"We're very excited to work with Brad and Eric at Lightbank and thrilled to have attracted this level of interest so early in our evolution," said Joshua Schwadron, founder of Betterfly. "They are true visionaries with the experience and insight to help Betterfly redefine the personal betterment space."

Betterfly was born out of the 28-year-old Schwadron's personal frustrations with finding the right people to help him on his journey of personal betterment. To make it easier to find those tutors, coaches, stylists, trainers, etc. – called Betterists™ on the site – Betterfly.com became the first website of its kind to exclude companies, focusing on people instead, which gives it a strategic advantage.

"When searching for someone to teach you how to play the piano, cut your hair or improve your Pilates technique, it's more important to know who the best person is, rather than knowing just the name of a music school, salon or studio," Schwadron says. "Imagine if eHarmony.com told you that your future wife worked at Citigroup, but left it up to you to figure out who she is. Now what?"

Betterfly.com makes that process easier and more efficient by enabling users to compare apples to apples, people to people – something no other site does. With thousands of Betterists already offering their services and hundreds more signing up each week, Betterfly is quickly gaining share in the self-improvement space.

In addition to its search features, Betterfly.com also provides a robust platform for Betterists to create a highly-customizable profile page that Schwadron says is, "a mini-website that can be made in minutes." Betterists can promote their qualifications, services, special offers and payment policies, provide real-time availability, offer online appointment booking, upload resources such as instructional videos and lesson plans and even manage their own blogs.

"Lightbank focuses on entrepreneurs who are passionate about their ideas and invests in companies that leverage technology to transform existing industries," Keywell said. "Joshua and the Betterfly team are creating a new paradigm for how we connect with experts to make us better at our chosen pursuits."

To become a Betterist or to find one who can help you achieve your personal betterment goals anywhere in the United States, visit http://betterfly.com.

About Betterfly

Betterfly is the free and easy way to find the best people — not companies — to help you learn, look and feel better, in more than 1000 different ways. Betterfly is based in New York, NY. For more information, visit http://betterfly.com.

About Lightbank

Lightbank is a Chicago-based fund focused on early-stage technology companies. Founded by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, who founded Groupon, MediaBank, InnerWorkings and Echo Global Logistics, Lightbank invests money, time and expertise to help innovative businesses achieve dynamic growth. For more information, visit http://www.lightbank.com.

SOURCE Betterfly