Small Business Technology Leader Broadly Acquires about.me

Acquisition Deepens Broadly's Product Suite and Expands Company's Talent Bench

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Feb 21, 2019, 19:25 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadly, the leading mobile-first productivity platform for small businesses, today announced it has acquired about.me, the web profile platform that enables people and companies to easily showcase their professional accomplishments, skills, and experience.

"Our goal is to help on-the-go, on-their-feet business owners connect more quickly with modern consumers, who expect Amazon-like speed and responsiveness," said Josh Melick, CEO and Co-founder of Broadly, which creates simple, easy-to-use technology tools that help small, local business owners stay visible, connected and responsive to their customers. "That means offering web chat, text, email, online review collection, team messaging, and more in one easy place: our mobile app."

"The about.me product is another frictionless mechanism for helping small businesses promote themselves and start capturing leads, which aligns well with our mission and brand," Melick said. "More personally, we're thrilled to welcome the about.me team to the Broadly family - we're even stronger together."

"It was important to the about.me leadership team to join forces with a company that had a strong go-to-market strategy and a similar level of passion for serving small business owners, who are an integral part of keeping our economy strong and vibrant," said Tony Conrad, founder of about.me and partner at True Ventures. "We found that in Broadly and see the very real potential for powerful future growth as a result of this alignment."

about.me's entire workforce will transition to Broadly as part of the acquisition, with about.me's CEO Mindy Lauck taking point as Broadly's Vice President of Product. Lauck brings deep product expertise, with extensive experience from stints with Adobe Systems, NBC-Universal, and E*Trade Financial. At Broadly, she will focus on expanding the company's product suite to support the full range of modern small business owner needs.

Broadly's acquisition of about.me is the latest in a series of ongoing company developments. Last September, Broadly raised a $10M Series B co-led by original investor Foundry Group and new partner Calibrate Ventures. In 2018, the company launched its small business-focused web chat feature and integration to the Broadly mobile app. Broadly was also named #107 on the Inc 500 list of fastest-growing private companies in America in the magazine's most recent ranking.

More on Broadly
Broadly is a mobile-first communications platform enabling local businesses to engage with customers at every stage of their journey. Thousands of business owners, managers, and team members depend on Broadly every day to run their businesses from anywhere, in real time. Broadly is a venture-funded startup based in Oakland, CA. Visit broadly.com to learn more.

More on about.me
about.me helps entrepreneurs, consultants, and freelancers present who they are and what they do with a one-page website -- in order to help grow their audience or attract new customers. Launched in 2010, about.me is a venture-backed company, with such notable investors as Foundry Group and True Ventures.

SOURCE Broadly