Cary-based entrepreneur with a previous $350M exit (Samanage) secures $21M for new startup

CARY – Cary-based Viably has secured $21M in a seed round, CEO Doron Gordon tells WRAL TechWire in an exclusive interview.

Gordon is best known for his role as Founder and CEO of the cloud-IT startup Samanage. Gordon led Samanage to relocate its headquarters from Israel to Cary, NC in 2014; Samanage was then acquired by SolarWinds for $350M in 2019.

While Gordon called it a “challenging time” to raise capital, he also said that he was “super grateful and excited” to welcome back two investors who had supported Samanage: Viola Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.

Doron Gordon image via his LinkedIn page

“But it was also very important for us to bring the local experts,” said Gordon.

Local investors in this round included Jason Parker of Bull City Venture Partners and Scot Wingo of the Triangle Tweener Fund. Viably is one of 14 companies that the Triangle Tweener Fund invested in during the second quarter of 2022.

“I always wanted to work with people like Jason and Scot, for so long, even since the early days of Samanage,” said Gordon. “So we’re fortunate to have both Bull City Ventures and the Tweener Fund backing us, and definitely looking to tap into their experience and insights.”

London-based Angular Ventures also participated in the round, according to Viably’s press release.

Viably offers a (free) financial app to small businesses

Gordon said that Viably hopes to solve two major challenges: helping financial institutions understand small businesses and educating small businesses about their financials.

“At Samanage, we spent so much time working with different banks and really trying to help them understand the way we were viewing the business, and the data that we were looking at when we were running the business, and there was a disconnect,” said Gordon.

Viably allows small business owners and entrepreneurs to create a free account and import their financial information—their business bank account, their Quickbooks account, and more.

“All you have to do is come in and connect your data set, that’s going to give us the visibility of how you are running your financials,” said Gordon. “And analyzing your financials, we can provide insight, we can provide opportunities to reduce your cost, your spending, we can provide opportunities to collect your income faster, which is a unique skill.”

Gordon hopes that, by giving small business owners a better picture of their financials, Viably can educate small business owners and entrepreneurs on their business credit report.

“The data is going to give us the insights that we can share and use to educate them on the way that the lenders would actually view them,” said Gordon.

Viably launches $2,500 grants for small businesses

Viably is also launching the Viably Grow Grant program, Gordon said, which will award a $2,500 grant package to one NC-based Viably small business customer per month.

“You have to be a local business, incorporated in North Carolina, you have to be in business for six months, and you have to go through the process of applying to Viably,” said Gordon.

Each month, Viably will randomly select one customer who has gone through their application process to receive the $2,500 grant package.

“So we’re definitely looking forward to spreading the word and inviting some local businesses to come and apply and participate in the program,” said Gordon.

Gordon “fell in love” with Cary

Viably recently opened its headquarters in downtown Cary. Gordon first moved to Cary when he relocated Samanage to the Triangle back in 2014. He said he “fell in love” with the people and the quality of life.

“We fell in love with the fact that everybody appreciates work-life balance, even before COVID,” said Gordon, adding, “that’s probably the reason why my wife doesn’t want to go anywhere else.”

Gordon also noted the “loyalty” in the region, and he mentioned that many of his team members from Samange have joined him at Viably.

For more information about Viably visit www.runviably.com