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It was less than two years ago that the five co-founders of social billboard display Enplug moved to LA and started the business (while sharing a one-bedroom house, not to mention). They got Enplug off the ground by approaching brick and mortar businesses individually, showing them the digital display product which allows retail customers to interact in real-time via social media.
Today, Enplug can’t stop growing: the 35-person team will double by the end of the year to keep up with their growing customer base, which is currently at a “couple hundred” businesses. In fact, it’s getting a bit hard to keep track of the growth: CEO Nanxi Liu said she will often come out of a team meeting with at least a dozen more customers added to the list.
Last week’s announcement of a $2.5 million round from some of the top names in tech (Howard Marks, David Cohen, Bill Gross just to name a few) will only fuel Enplug’s expansion throughout Southern California and San Francisco.
“I’m so fortunate to have met these investors,” Liu said. “When I first came to LA, I didn’t know anyone. But we said, ‘Okay, here we go, we’re going to raise money here.’ LA is fantastic for connecting with a diverse range of people. It was really just word of mouth.”
Just like they met their investors, the Enplug team brought on their customers, which include bars, restaurants and even a church, organically: “Our strategy for getting sales and clients was going to places we hung out at. They saw how our product worked and then told a friend.”
The Enplug team wants to keep it like this. That way, they can be in touch with individual business owners about what should be added to the “app marketplace” that Enplug has created for its digital display. For example, Enplug just released a new vertical display app that resembles moving posters on retail walls and now they are working on music jukebox app for retailers. All these apps add up to what Liu calls “the Chromecast for businesses.”
“For us, it’s not just about creating this interactive display, but it’s about creating this whole suite for brick and mortar businesses,” Liu said.
