gosite Raises $40M to Empower SMBs Online

The United States is home to 12 million small and medium-sized businesses, a sector that has historically been significantly underserved within the B2B market. This large number highlights considerable market fragmentation, and coupled with budgetary limitations, presents substantial challenges to providing solutions at scale. However, a company focused on assisting SMBs in establishing an online presence has recently announced a major funding round – an indication of evolving trends, particularly as a digital presence has become essential for many businesses.

GoSite, a San Diego-based company that empowers small and medium enterprises to create websites and manage various online business operations – including payment processing, digital marketing, appointment scheduling, and accounting – with minimal technical expertise, has secured $40 million in new funding.

GoSite functions as a comprehensive platform for building and managing an online footprint, capable of integrating with as many as 80 different third-party services. “Our goal is to ensure our customers are visible everywhere,” explained Alex Goode, Founder and CEO of GoSite. “We connect with platforms like Facebook, Siri, Apple Maps, and search engines including Google, Yahoo, and Bing, among others.” The company also develops certain core features, such as payment systems, independently.

This Series B funding follows a successful year for the company. The shift towards online customer interaction, accelerated by the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, has led to increased demand for GoSite’s services, and the company – which serves “thousands” of SMB customers – reported a doubling of its customer base in 2020.

This latest investment round is led by Left Lane Capital, based in New York, with participation from Longley Capital, Cove Fund, Stage 2, Ankona Capital, and Serra Ventures. GoSite is capitalizing on current market conditions, as Longley, also located in San Diego, previously led the company’s funding round in August of this year. To date, GoSite has raised a total of $60 million.

GoSite represents an effort to broaden inclusivity within the technology sector. Its clientele consists of businesses that are not typically acquired from competing website building and hosting providers commonly used by SMBs, such as Squarespace, Wix, GoDaddy, or Shopify.

Instead, GoSite serves businesses that may have never utilized such services before: local auto repair shops, landscaping companies, hair salons, accounting practices, dental offices, and similar establishments. With the exception of accounting firms, these businesses are unlikely to transition entirely online, due to the inherent physical nature of their services. However, they require an online presence and the tools it provides for communication to maintain viability, particularly when traditional business models are challenged.

Goode launched GoSite after earning a computer science degree from a Michigan college, drawing on his experience growing up around and working in small businesses – his parents, grandparents, and other community members all owned and operated their own stores. (He relocated to San Diego “for the weather,” he added.)

He believes that while platforms like Facebook or Yelp offer a starting point, they cannot replace the long-term value, security, and control of establishing an independent online presence – a perspective that resonates with small business owners.

This is perhaps the most notable aspect of GoSite’s current approach: the company does not view existing solutions as direct competition. Goode envisions GoSite as a central dashboard that enables business owners to manage a wide range of services – currently up to 80 – from a single location, requiring minimal technical expertise and training.

“There is significant demand from small businesses for assistance, and GoSite is well-positioned to provide it,” Goode stated. “The market is fragmented and overwhelming, and many businesses are unsure where to begin.”

This, combined with GoSite’s growth trajectory and relevance to the current market, played a key role in attracting investors.

“We are investing in the concept of an all-in-one solution,” said Vinny Pujji, partner at Left Lane. “If you’re a carpet cleaner or a house painter, you lack the resources to understand or manage five or six different software programs. We consulted with thousands of SMBs during our evaluation, and this was the consistent response.” He also emphasized the importance of GoSite’s customer service, noting that SMB customers appreciate the accessibility of direct phone support.