Washington, D.C.-based Goodshuffle, which has developed a SaaS platform for the event rental and production industry, has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round from FINTOP Capital, which has offices in Jacksonville, Fla.
Goodshuffle’s previous investors include BizBash Media, a Washington, D.C. publisher focused on the events business, and its founder David Adler and his family. Its other backers include some owners of D.C.-area companies —MassLight CEO Daniel Abrams, Paul Hines of Jessup, Maryland-based Fabrication Events and Annie Senatore of Hyattsville’s Design Foundry.
Inspired by Mom
Founders Erik Dreyer, a UX specialist, and former Oracle executive Andrew Garcia — both studied at the University of Texas in Austin around the same time — originally took aim at equipment rental business before pivoting in 2017 to developing specialized software for the events and production industry. Goodshuffle also added executive vice president Karen Gordon as the third founder.
In college, Garcia served as a disc jockey and also rented out gear to organize events, but he credited his mother for entering business.
“My mom, Noelia Garcia, ran small businesses my whole childhood and I saw first-hand her pride and determination to make them successful,” Garcia, a full-stack developer, said in a LinkedIn post. “First it was a daycare service, then Homemaid Service, then Treats Galore (my first job!). It’s a never-ending fuel inside me knowing I get to play a part in another person’s journey, as they make their dream come true of running their own business.”
FINTOP principal Brittani Roberts said Goodshuffle’s founders have built not only an “amazing product,” but also a team and culture that rivals the best. “When software is more than just an incredible tool, and it actually helps small business owners grow their own companies and achieve their goals, you’re doing it right,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
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All-in-One Offering
Since its shift to the present business line, Garcia’s team has developed Goodshuffle Pro, a SaaS platform that provides all the nuts and bolts to run an events business. Termed the “central nervous system” for the events business, the platform premiered in 2018. It provides a single dashboard to track inventory, automate sales, manage invoices, contracts, schedules and payments.
Recently, it added so-called “wishlist integration” — a feature similar to a Shopify plug-in that helps businesses connect their inventory to their websiteto create a “virtual showroom,” TechCrunch reported.
Within a year of launch, Goodshuffle Pro was in use in 45 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico, the company said. In 2020, Goodshuffle was rated the “Best Tech Startup in DC” and one of the “Coolest Places to Work.”
