Baton, a leading marketplace for small and medium-sized business acquisitions, announced a Series A funding round of $10 million, led by Obvious Ventures with participation from Burst Capital, FJ Labs, Fluent Ventures, and Spencer Rascoff (co-founder and former CEO of Zillow) via 75 & Sunny. And previous investors Divergent Capital, Bloomberg Beta, and Zeno Ventures also joined this round.
The new funding round, which brings Baton’s total raised to $15.5 million after a seed round led by Giant Ventures, will accelerate the growth of Baton’s marketplace to support even more small business owners. And Baton’s success rate with owners selling their business is 10x higher than current market solutions, with 70% successfully closing through Baton.
Millions of small business owners are expected to exit within the next 5-10 years as baby boomers prepare to retire, driving trillions of dollars as an unprecedented wealth transfer, often called the Silver Tsunami. Plus, a generation of young buyers aspire to go on entrepreneurial journeys, driven by changes in work culture caused by the pandemic and the acceleration of technology to operate small businesses better.
However, current listing sites are often filled with low-quality entries with incomplete or inaccurate information, a lack of verified data to help buyers underwrite a deal quickly, and little support after the initial connection. Baton has a significantly higher close rate, and its use of technology also enables a 50% cost savings compared to traditional solutions.
Baton enables small business owners with the data to make the right decisions and navigate the sale process with clarity and certainty. For owners, Baton starts with a free valuation that analyzes their financials, market trends, and industry benchmarks. It offers a free Private Listing, enabling an owner to gauge buyer interest without any monetary commitment.
With a paid plan, Baton creates an advanced listing with reconciled financials and a native data room and helps guide the owner through buyer interest, negotiations, and closing in half of the time as a traditional sale process. Browsing available listings in all 50 states, buyers love the listing quality, the ability to underwrite a deal quickly and move to negotiations.
Baton partners with dozens of lenders, accountants, lawyers, and other professionals to streamline each transaction stage. These partnerships provide sellers and buyers with the tailored expertise they need for a smooth and successful sale process.
KEY QUOTES:
“The sale of a business can seem daunting — our team comes from a background of family business owners and we have seen it firsthand. Not only is our team dedicated to ensuring business ownership is attainable for anyone, we deeply care about small business owners and support them through each and every step of this process.”
- Chat Joglekar, CEO and co-founder of Baton
“We studied the category and identified Baton as the leading marketplace for business ownership transfer. Small businesses are the backbone of the US economy, and we’re excited about how the Baton team is making small business ownership attainable for everyone.”
- James Joaquin, Co-founder of Obvious Ventures
“Baton allowed me to pass my dream business since childhood into the right hands with confidence and ease. I’m incredibly grateful to the team at Baton for making me feel like getting the best possible experience in selling my business was their top priority, and because of that, my dream will live on for the years I enjoy my retirement and beyond.”
- Gus Reckel, founder of L’imprimerie, a French bakery and cafe in New York City
