Localisity

Small businesses comprise over 50% of jobs in the US. However, over the last fifteen years, small business formation has declined by nearly 20% as larger digital and retail conglomerates have taken market share from small businesses, resulting in significant revenue pressure and market share loss for small businesses. 

Unlike large companies that bring with them digital and logistics experts to optimize customer acquisition and retention, our local mom-and-pop shops are at a significant technological disadvantage. Some small businesses may only have a Facebook page, a rudimentary website, or perhaps they have a delivery infrastructure — but these operationally intensive approaches have yet to show whether they truly add to small business’ bottom lines. National emergencies like that of COVID-19 bring the acuteness and necessity of these modern operational challenges to the forefront.

Small businesses need a cohesive, unified approach to competing for market share as well as a continuity plan for what happens during emergencies like COVID-19.

One thing that is clear: consumer behavior is changing as a result of digital native e-commerce companies and the big-box stores making the digital transition. Customers now shop more online, with mobile shopping alone expected to increase by 56% over the next 5 years.

Why do customers not shop local today? 

• Disparate information - it’s easier to find products on established corporations like GrubHub or Amazon.
• Convenience - consumers prefer to interact with and purchase from retailers online. And let’s face it, they want products brought to them.
• More expensive - current convenience solutions require 20-30% markups to compensate for existing platform listing fees, making the small business seem more expensive.

What if there was a single platform where you could shop your local grocery store, buy what you need for your home improvement project from the local hardware store, or order last-minute locally-made gifts all from the same place? What if that same platform was built from the ground up to be friendly on the business’ budget? This is Localisity. We help consumers act on their desire to buy local and we do it in a way that is economic for small businesses.

• Sales & Marketing: $24,500
• Product Enhancement: $23,580
• Insurance: $15,000
• Legal & Professional: $25,000
• Customer Support & Operations: $12,500
• Mainvest Compensation: $6,420

Ben Dooley
CEO, Co-Founder
Ben holds a graduate certificate in Business Analytics from Harvard Business school, an MS in Finance from Northeastern University, and a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of South Carolina.Also active in the volunteer community, Ben served as an Associate Board Member and Volunteer Leader at Boston Cares and enjoys coaching and judging Highschool policy debate tournaments. He spends the remainder of his spare time indoor cycling and chiding his 5-lb Pomeranian for not using her princess stairs.

Noemi Rhodes
Marketing
Noemi has a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Emerson College as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing from Allegheny College. Noemi is also a Chautauqua Writers’ Festival scholar, and hosted the John C. Sturtevant Single Voice Reading Series.In her spare time, Noemi enjoys writing short fiction, ballroom dancing, and the question of what it means to be post-human. She likes bread.

Jessica Hutto
Operations
In 2015 Jessica and her husband established a large poultry production farm. A combination of hard work, determination, and the involvement of the local community resulted in what is now a prosperous and self-sustaining business.Jessica enjoys watching sunsets, landscape photography, and spending time with her family. Whether in a book or on TV, she loves true crime, partially due to her time as a 9-1-1 Dispatcher and Corrections Officer. She is also an animal lover who has made a home for many pets in need over the years.

Tristan Marchand
Sales
Tristan is an undergraduate student at Boston University pursuing Bachelors in both Economics and Computer Science. He’s a regular student on the Dean’s List and is also the Vice President of an on-campus club.Tristan grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, and spent most of high school as a musician, performing weekly around the city, and sometimes would travel to perform in cities like Los Angeles and Dallas. He loves music, sports, fitness, and corgis. Most importantly corgis.

Bharath Parlapalli
Advisor
Bharath has a Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics from Harvard Business School and a Masters in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas. He received the Addy Award in 2013 for Best Business-Facing Website and was selected for the Start-ups in Analytics Panel at HBS.In Bharath’s spare time, he enjoys reading about the origins of civilization, human collaboration, and how to improve productive and quality social interactions between communities.

Karim Lakhani
Advisor
Karim is a professor and fellow at the Harvard Business School. He is the founder and co-director of the Laboratory for Innovation Science, the principal investigator of the NASA Tournament Laboratory at the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science, and co-founder of the Harvard Business School Digital Initiative. He is on the board of Mozilla Corporation and Local Motors.

Vaibhav Kamboj
Advisor
Vaibhav is an angel investor and experienced entrepreneur with 12 years of functional and technical expertise in ERP solutions, integration strategy, business process management, data analytics and business intelligence. He is co-founder of a startup in Blockchain Technology to digitize and build efficiencies in the education ecosystem.

If you invest $100, the business agrees to share a portion of their revenue until you have been repaid $170. They will owe you this amount by 1/1/2027, regardless of revenue.