Hustle provides a MadLibs-style peer-to-peer texting app that lets staffers or volunteers send personalized text messages one at a time and manage responses, tracking conversions and optimizing scripts. The company cites strong operating metrics: it 20x’d its annual revenue run rate in 15 months, claims 85 million conversations started, and reports a run rate of well over $10 million. Clients pay about $0.30 per contact uploaded, and Hustle cites customers including LiveNation, NYU, and the Sierra Club; over 25 state Democratic parties use the service. The startup plans to expand beyond political and nonprofit work into alumni fundraising for universities, enterprise sales, and event promotion. Hustle has raised $41 million in total funding, employs over 100 people across San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and was founded in late 2014. The company’s political client restrictions (declining Republican candidates) have been part of its growth strategy and brand positioning with Democratic and progressive organizations. Hustle provides a CRM-like platform for personalized, one-on-one SMS outreach, letting organizers assign contact lists and reps who text from their own numbers using templated scripts with variables. Its desktop app, mobile apps (iOS/Android) and web UI include an analytics dashboard and partnerships with payment processors and CRM systems to track conversions. The company charges clients a monthly fee per contact starting at $0.30 and reports a 40-person team with a $3M annual recurring revenue run rate. Hustle was formed by Roddy Lindsay and Perry Rosenstein in 2014 and was built from work on the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign; it has expanded beyond politics into higher education and other relationship-driven enterprises, serving about 30 schools. Customers include Amherst, which used Hustle to raise young alumni participation from 10% to 21%. The company plans to use new capital to build out its platform and API for better conversion tracking and to grow sales, marketing, and engineering teams across San Francisco, New York, and Washington, DC. Hustle is a text-distribution platform that enables organizers to start personalized one-on-one SMS conversations with large numbers of supporters. Organizers write customized scripts, upload contacts or connect CRMs, and assign agents who use Hustle’s iOS, Android or web apps to send texts via local Twilio-powered numbers while tracking responses and RSVPs. The tool has been used by political campaigns including Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and reached 3.95 million voters on election day. Hustle charges $0.30 monthly per contact and reported $3 million in revenue in its first year on the market. With new funding it plans to hire engineers, designers and a sales team to push into retail, hospitality and traditional nonprofits. The company also intends to build semantic analytics to identify high-converting responses and algorithmically improve scripts. Hustle operates with a roughly 12-person team and recognizes risks from carriers, closed messaging platforms, and potential spam perception.

Total raised

$41M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

May 2018