Smoking hot
High-profile DJs spin major investment into Austin tech startup
Electronic dance music duo Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart — better known as The Chainsmokers — are helping turn up the volume at Austin-based startup Hearth.
Pall and Taggart (said to be the world’s highest-paid DJs) contributed to a $23 million round of funding announced May 19 by Hearth, whose app helps home repair contractors extend loans to customers. Other investors in the round include investment firms Human Capital, 8VC, and Suro Capital, along with individual investors Jay Levine and Barry Sternlicht.
Since being founded in 2016, Hearth has raised $51 million in funding.
Pall and Taggart financially back startups as angel investors and through their Mantis venture capital firm. Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban is among the investors who’ve put money into Mantis, according to TechCrunch. Mantis’ debut investment fund contains $35 million. Among the companies in Mantis’ portfolio are Dooly, LoanSnap, Popmenu, Public.com, Step, and Underdog Fantasy.
Hearth says the funding will enable expansion of its workforce from 100 employees to 200 employees by the end of 2021. The startup’s website lists 10 job openings in Austin.
“Our financing and payment products have been so well received by our customers that we are now developing a suite of financial and workflow tools specifically tailored to contractors to help them run their business, save time, and protect their profits,” Anna Fabian, senior vice president of product at Hearth, says in a news release.