20 Dec A partnership in productivity: IU Angel Network contributes to major new round of financing for Indy-based meeting platform Docket
CONTACT INFORMATION:
IU Ventures
ventures@iu.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The IU Angel Network has contributed to the completion of a major new financing round for Docket, an online platform founded by Indiana University alumnus Darin Brown that is designed to make meetings more efficient and productive.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Docket announced it raised $3 million during its latest round. This followed a $1.5 million seed round, which the company finalized last year.
The IU Angel Network is investing in Docket as the company ramps up its development in collaboration with Zoom Video Communications Inc.; the two companies recently unveiled a new app created to ensure more effective Zoom meetings.
The IU Angel Network, one of three investment programs managed by IU Ventures, facilitates connections between IU-affiliated startups and prospective investors from among IU’s global community of alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of efficient, organized and clear-focused meetings to successful organizations,” said Jason Whitney, vice president of venture development of IU Ventures and executive director of the IU Angel Network. “With Docket, Darin Brown has developed a unique, innovative way for companies to say goodbye to meandering meetings and focus on greater productivity. As reflected in the platform’s new partnership with Zoom, Docket presents a collaborative, easy-to-use and highly adaptable framework for end-to-end meeting management. We’re extremely excited to tap the resources and connections of the IU Angel Network to help further the growth of an Indiana-based company that is on the cutting edge of high-end workflow management software.”
Brown, a 1994 graduate of IUPUI and veteran of the Indianapolis tech community, established Docket in 2019. Previously, he served as the CTO of Angie’s List and vice president at Salesforce and ExactTarget.
Borrowing from those experiences, he developed an intelligence platform designed to help users maximize the time spent before, during and after meetings, making it easier for them to collaboratively create and share agendas, take notes, and share recaps and action-items in one platform.
“As I went through my career, I realized that bad meetings weren’t just my problem. There are many people who view meetings in a negative way and as an inefficient waste of time,” Brown said. “Our platform recognizes that, if they are to achieve their top goals, companies need to be able to move quickly and ensure that their team members are working in close alignment.”
Earlier this year, Docket, which was launched out of High Alpha’s venture studio in Indianapolis, beat out more than 600 marketplace apps to capture first-place in Zoom’s inaugural Marketplace Whale Watch Competition. The event included a top prize of up to $2 million in potential funding from several leading venture capital firms. Additionally, Docket was named a “leader” in meeting management software by G2, a major peer-to-peer review site with a focus on business software.
Predictably, Brown’s meetings with the IU Ventures team have been highly productive and centered on a clear objective: leveraging IU’s resources and connections — as well as Docket’s expanding relationship with Zoom — to help the company accelerate its development at a time when its offerings are proving to be high in demand. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations are seeking better meeting habits, as well as greater organization and support for managing hybrid models of work, in which employees work partly on site and partly remotely.
“The support IU Ventures has provided through the IU Angel Network has far exceeded my expectations,” Brown said. “This support — and the support we’ve received from the close-knit community of venture partners here in Indianapolis and throughout the Midwest — has been tremendously important.
“People here want to help you and are very earnest about giving their time when you ask for advice and mentorship. They’re eager to try out your product and give you great, helpful feedback. It’s really impactful when investors feel a sense of duty and want to help you succeed.”
About Docket:
Docket is a meeting intelligence platform that enhances every stage of hybrid work collaboration with tools that enable better meeting habits for greater efficiency and alignment. The Docket SaaS platform facilitates the leadership of and participation in key business processes. It provides a growing library of integrations to leading project management, chat, calendar, video communications, and CRM providers to support any desired meeting workflow.
About IU Ventures:
IU Ventures invests in and supports early-stage companies through three programs: the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, IU Angel Network, and IU Founders and Funders network. Each program takes unique approaches to accelerate and support the positive impacts that entrepreneurs affiliated with IU already achieve across the world. In Indiana alone, IU Ventures made new and follow-on investments in 19 companies during 2020-21, was recognized as one of the top three most active funds in the state and received the MIRA Venture Fund of the Year award. More than 50 percent of the companies in which IU Ventures has invested since 2018 have had women or minority founders, CEOs or other C-suite members.
Communications Contacts:
Ryan Piurek, IU Ventures
Heather Hansson, Docket