April 25, 2023
Advantage Capital, a venture capital firm, small business lender, and impact investor, announced today a $2.5 million investment in Bezlio, an Akron, Ohio-based software developer that provides Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrations to enhance manufacturing operations. The investment is part of a larger $4.25 million Seed round led by JumpStart Ventures and in partnership with JobsOhio. The funding will support a business restart under new CEO, Gerald Hetrick.
After rapid expansion in 2020, Bezlio switched from legacy consulting to developing their custom ERP solutions and added 50 new customers, setting the stage for strong growth. Today, Bezlio’s solutions address a gap in the market for small and medium sized businesses by delivering a niche product specifically for production floor data entry. Last year, JumpStart Ventures—an Ohio venture capital firm and co-investor in Bezlio—recruited Hetrick as an advisor. He will now lead the company as it enters a new era of expansion.
“I am excited about this period of growth at Bezlio, and this funding will help fuel our upward momentum,” said Hetrick. “With this capital, we will be able to successfully enter into our next chapter and ensure we are providing our customers with the best product and technology solutions to help their businesses run with greater agility and efficiency.”
The investment will drive new expansion and allow Bezlio to hire an additional 20 employees. Many of the new roles are planned as customer support and sales/marketing roles, which offer on-the-job training, allowing employees to grow with the company and stay within the community.
“Bezlio’s deep understanding of the manufacturing industry makes them an ideal company to help manufacturers leverage the power of their ERP systems to improve operational efficiencies. JumpStart Ventures is excited to partner with Gerald and the team at Bezlio as they enter this exciting growth phase”, said Hardik Desai, Managing Partner at JumpStart Ventures.
The financing was made in connection with the Federal and Ohio New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) Programs, which aim to attract and encourage investment in Ohio’s low-income communities. By encouraging private investment, the programs help fill the financing gap that exists for many businesses in underserved communities—helping to catalyze job growth and economic development in the places that need it most.
“I am happy to see these programs doing exactly what they are meant to do—funneling capital to distressed areas that typically get overlooked,” said State Senator Vernon Sykes. “Investments made under these programs support businesses throughout Ohio, and I am thrilled to see this excellent company with fantastic growth potential receive the support it needs.”
“When we support small business we support economic growth in communities across our state,” said State Representative Tavia Galonski. “Programs like these fuel the kind of economic support and community development we need in Ohio. I am pleased to see a growing and innovative company such as Bezlio receive financing to support expansion here in Akron.”
Bezlio’s products allow production floor employees mobile access to ERP systems for increased data and visibility—an improvement over legacy systems which require using stationary kiosks or batch data entry at the beginning and end of shifts.
“Companies like Bezlio are the types of businesses we look to invest in: those with strong prospects for growth that are poised to generate high-quality jobs, help drive local economic growth, and make lasting positive impact in their communities,” said Joe Henderson, Vice President, Advantage Capital.
###
About Advantage Capital
Advantage Capital provides financing to established and emerging companies located in communities underserved by conventional sources of capital. Since 1992, the firm has invested more than $4.2 billion in companies from a diverse array of industry sectors and has helped support more than 67,000 jobs. Learn more at Advantagecap.com, or via Twitter or LinkedIn.
About Bezlio
Bezlio is a no-code/low-code mobile applications development platform and toolkit that enables anyone to build interactive dashboards and apps that allow you to view and interact with on-premises and cloud data on any device, from anywhere. Our technology lets you bring multiple data sources together, display that data in real-time, and even write back to update the original data source!
About JumpStart Ventures
JumpStart Ventures is a division of JumpStart Inc. focused on venture capital investing. JumpStart Ventures deploys Pre-seed, Seed, and Series A funding to early-stage technology startups in Ohio. With four investment funds under management, they provide a continuum of capital to tech startups as they move through critical phases of development. To learn more, visit JumpStart.VC.
Contacts
Advantage Capital
Joe Stosberg, Communications Manager
jstosberg@advantagecap.com
Advantage Capital is an Investment Adviser registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Such registration, however, does not imply a certain level of skill or training. This release has been prepared for informational purposes and to announce a prior event, and nothing herein should be construed as an offer of investment advisory services or as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities or investment product. All offers of investment interests in any fund or investment vehicle managed directly or indirectly by Advantage Capital are and will be made only to qualified prospective investors pursuant to separate and definitive offering and subscription documents in accordance with applicable federal and state securities laws. Advantage Capital is an equal opportunity provider.
