Archive for May, 2011

May 03

TROOPSWAP.COM ANNOUNCES INITIAL ROUND OF FUNDING, NEW EXECUTIVE TEAM ADDITIONS ON EVE OF LAUNCH

by Kelly Perdew Entrepreneur, Leadership, TroopSwap.com No Comments

Daily Deals Platform Exclusively For Members Of The Military Community To Debut In Hampton Roads Virginia Prior To Memorial Day

Hampton Roads, VA May 2, 2011- Troopswap.com, a Daily Deals site exclusively for members of the military community today announced a major milestone, securing in excess of $585,000 in private funding from investors who believe a life of service should have its perks. The company also announced a team of private/public sector individuals who will help guide their next level of implementation and development, featuring a management team led by former Army Rangers and Harvard Business School Alumni Matthew Thompson and Blake Hall and a product team headed by William Kern, formerly of AOL and Mixx.com.

“This represents an important step not just in our business but in the improvement of the lives of those who serve, and have served, in America’s Armed Forces and their families around the world,” said CEO Blake Hall. “The establishment of our community outreach campaign, led by Matt Thompson, as well as the infusion of capital puts us in a position where we can go from conceptual to actual in our business, and we are excited for the opportunity to delight the military community.”

Well-known investors backing the offering include: Frank Monestere, former Green Beret and current President/COO of LegalZoom.com, Paige Craig, former Marine and Founder/CEO of Betterworks.com and Kelly Perdew, former Army Ranger, winner of Season 2 of NBC’s The Apprentice, and CEO of FastPointGames.com Mr. Perdew also serves on the company’s board.

TroopSwap.com only employs military spouses and veterans for community outreach, providing much needed employment opportunities for those groups. 10% of TroopSwap.com’s profits are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. COO Matt Thompson said, “I served on four combat deployments and observed the Wounded Warrior Project in action on the front lines. It’s an incredible feeling to be part of a business where all of our activities are focused on creating social good for the community that we serve.”

The business model is structured along the lines of some of the biggest consumer deal platforms in the market but offers are exclusively for military members, defined as veterans, service members, spouses and their families. TroopSwap.com aims to take advantage of its unique distribution network and eventually provide a platform where military family members can buy and sell goods, find services and generally come together to get tips, advice and best practices from their peers in dealing with the challenges of life in the service – all without leaving a values based community that forms the most tightly knit fraternity and sorority in the world.

The TroopSwap.com Team is rounded out by an impressive array of talent. Tony Huynh leads the engineering efforts for the platform. Arjun Dhillon handles front-end engineering tasks and design. Caitlin Horn headlines a group of eight military spouses recently hired to spread awareness for TroopSwap.com on bases in Hampton Roads, Virginia – the largest military community in the world.

TroopSwap.com was recently featured at StartupXLR8R, an event hosted by iStrategy Labs at Microsoft’s Chevy Chase offices, and has received glowing reviews from the media and the military community. The first deals will debut in Hampton Roads, Virginia prior to Memorial Day. The company plans to expand the platform to more bases soon thereafter. Matt Thompson explained, “We are on a mission to make military life better.”

For more information about TroopSwap.com or to sign-up for the first military-only deals, visit http://www.TroopSwap.com or tweet @TroopSwap

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Blake Hall
Co-Founder and CEO
Phone: (615) 293 – 4702
Fax: (202) 600 - 7611

 
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