ERA is a business accelerator and early-stage venture capital fund. The organization has invested in more than 190 start-ups since launching in 2011.
Techmate is part of ERA's Summer of 2019 class, which started June 17. Participating companies join a four-month program to help ramp the business into a viable, venture-scalable business. Each ERA company receives an initial $100,000 investment and the potential for follow-on funding from ERA’s Fund. All accepted companies are required to locate in-house at ERA's Manhattan location for the program’s duration.
Techmate: IT Support Services Explained
Techmate's platform matches customers with IT support experts based on office location, appointment time, and job scope. IT support technicians can be onsite in two hours – at half the industry rate, the company claims.
Techmate currently serves the New York City area, with plans to expand into additional cities. IT support technicians -- so-called Techmates -- are available between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., Monday – Sunday.
Colin Barceloux
Techmate founder and CEO David Brock also is president at DBI Staffing -- which specializes in technology recruitment within the legal sector. Co-founder Colin Barceloux also leads marketing at Domotz, an enterprise SaaS startup that provides Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM) for the Internet of Things.
In some ways, Techmate sounds like a modern alternative to Best Buy Geek Squad, OnForce and other IT support services that have on-demand capabilities.
Author Disclosures: Joe Panettieri occasionally attends ERA meetings in Manhattan, seeking potential investments in the technology market. To date, he has not invested in any ERA-backed startups or ERA meeting participants. At present, his primary angel investment focus involves Florida Funders, a hybrid crowdfunding platform and venture capital organization.
