Provo, Utah-Based Startup Grow Closes $11M Series A Financing

Business intelligence software company Grow announced this week that it has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by Toba Capital, a venture capital firm that specializes in software businesses. The Provo-based startup is part of a rising tide of new companies in “Silicon Slopes,” the Utah innovation center that is attracting a growing amount of VC money.

“Most Toba investments are based in Silicon Valley; this is the firm’s first venture in Utah,” said Vinny Smith, founder of Toba Capital, who is joining Grow’s board of directors. “Utah has proven it has the talent and the drive to produce great companies. We’re excited to be part of that with Grow.”

Grow was started in 2014 by CEO and founder Rob Nelson to solve a problem he personally encountered as an entrepreneur. “We had a huge data problem,” said Nelson, speaking of his last company, Logica, which was acquired by AFS in 2012. “We had to manually transfer data from a dozen apps into our spreadsheets every month.”

“For many companies,” Nelson elaborated in an interview with NewsCenter.io, “trying to be data-driven is a daunting task. It’s natural to be nervous about where to start and how to make sure you’re capturing the right data in the right way. It’s an iterative process that takes time, but it’s worth the effort. Grow has an excellent team that walks people through the process. We pair every customer with a data analyst to help with initial implementation and provide continued support so that you get the most out of your data.”

The daunting experience of compiling and synthesizing business data led Nelson to build Grow into a fully-customizable analytics software that aggregates and updates data from multiple sources in real-time, allowing business owners to uncover unique insights about their company operations. Targeted toward small- and mid-sized businesses who seek affordable and simple data solutions, Grow also provides customers with a team of data scientists who can help clients with more in-depth data analytics. According to the company, Grow saw a 37% month-over-month revenue increase in the last year.

Rob Nelson, Founder and CEO of Grow | Credit: Grow

When asked about his company’s culture, Nelson replied, “You could call it ‘problem-solving’ or ‘initiative,’  but around here, we call it ‘catch the ferry,’ a term that refers to an experience when the Grow team had to drive all day, wake up at 4:00 a.m., and catch a ferry to make it to a trade show on time. That’s the kind of the culture we’ve built with our team. We’re scrappy, we’re resourceful, we figure it out, and we do what it takes to make things happen for our customers.”