Calendly, an Atlanta-based cloud scheduling platform owned by Nigerian Tope Awotona, has raised $350 million based on a $3 billion valuation.
The Series A led fund raise was led by existing investor Open View Partners with participation from San Fransisco-based Iconiq Capital. This brings total funds raised to $900 million, counting the 2014 seed fund raise of $550 million led by Atlanta Ventures
Founded in 2013 by CEO/founder, Tope Awotona, Calendly offers a powerful and versatile set of features that allow you to schedule one-on-one appointments, group events and team meetings.
The company says it will use the investment to continue product innovation and also provide liquidity for early shareholders and employees.
The software startup intends to double its workforce (currently about 200 employees) and it has kicked this off by recruiting two new senior executives – Jeff Diana, chief people officer and Patrick Moran, chief revenue officer
With over 10 million subscribers using Calendly on a monthly basis, over 100 million meetings were scheduled in 2020 and the company made about $70 million annually in subscription revenues.
According to CEO Tope Awotona in a statement, “Our profitable, unique, product-led growth model has led to Calendly becoming the most used, most integrated, most loved scheduling platforms for individuals and large enterprises alike.”
“While we considered outside investment an unnecessary distraction, we made the decision to partner with OpenView and Iconiq because of their insight and extended network within the tech industry,” Awotona added.
Born in Nigeria, Tope Awotona moved to Atlanta in 1996. He worked with Perceptive Software before he started his entrepreneurial journey. However it was not all that smooth as he founded 3 different startups before hitting it with Calendly.
According to him in an interview with Inc. he raided his bank account and 401(k) to launch Calendly in 2013. He ran out of money and sought VC funding.
“I had a working product, and customers using it, and everyone said no. Meanwhile, I watched other people who fit a different “profile” get money thrown at them for shitty ideas. Those VCs were ignorant and shortsighted. The only thing I could attribute it to was that I was black.”
He overcame all this to raise the seed fund in 2014 due to his persistence and resilience having grown up in Lagos, Nigeria.
With the growth in the last couple of years, Awotona says he has his sights set on $1 billion in revenue.
