Powderhook Lands $650K in Seed Funding
2014-04-30
LINCOLN, NE, Free web and mobile service that connects outdoorsmen with places to hunt and fish, today announced it received convertible funding of $650,000.
Powderhook, a free web and mobile service that connects outdoorsmen with places to hunt and fish, today announced it received convertible funding of $650,000. Led by the Nebraska Angels, the funding round will enable Powderhook to continue to build its software development team and more rapidly validate the company's early plans to better connect the outdoor world with access.
'Powderhook's marketplace fills a substantial gap in the outdoors. Lack of access to quality hunting and fishing spots is the #1 reason people cite for going less often. People already use sites like ours to find vacation rentals, book flights and fetch taxis. It is our belief this familiar model translates well into the hunting and fishing space, and users will quickly adopt our technology as a means for helping them get out more often,' said Powderhook co-founder and CEO, Eric Dinger.
Six months in to product development, led by co-founder and NASA vet, Heath Roehr, Powderhook boasts hunting and fishing locations in every state and 12 countries. In total over 265,000 spots and 550 million acres are available to outdoorsmen through the site.
Dinger, whose resume includes exiting his first company, a brand and web development firm, Thought District, says the idea for Powderhook grew out of personal experience. A native of Redfield, SD, Dinger grew up hunting and fishing on his grandfather's land near the Sand Lake Refuge outside of rural Hecla, SD. After leaving to go to high school in Luverne, MN and moving to Lincoln for college, Dinger says it's been harder to find places nearby to hunt and fish.
'Though recreational land exists in nearly every county in the United States, many of the 14 million hunters and 33 million anglers nationally face similar hurdles,' Roehr says. 'They can ask someone they know; tag along on someone else's trip; navigate vast governmental websites; hire an attorney to negotiate a lease, or be willing to approach a farmhouse to ask permission,' he states. 'All challenges technology can overcome.'
The Nebraska Angels, an affiliated group of individual angel investors, feel Powderhook is the right model and team, at the opportune time. Said Nebraska Angels President, Bart Dillashaw, 'Powderhook is led by a proven entrepreneur and technical co-founder who are passionate about the problems the company seeks to solve. Coupled with a strong development team and a clear plan of action, we have great confidence in the company's ability to meet their goals. The hunting and fishing industries are massive and in need of the technology Powderhook delivers.'
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