Merlin Kauffman (born July 20, 1985), is an American technology entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder and executive chairman of the on-demand massage app, Soothe, Inc.[1][2]
Career
editKauffman's career started when he was hired by AOL at the age of 11 and he bootstrapped his first startup at the age of 17.[3]
In May 2013, Kauffman founded Soothe, an on-demand massage therapy service that connects certified massage therapists to consumers in real time via the app or web.[1] The company works with 1,500 independent massage therapists and provides several massage modalities, including Swedish, deep tissue, sports massage, couples massage, happy-ending massage, and prenatal massage.[4][5] It also provides in-office chair massage through its corporate wellness program, Soothe At Work.[6] Soothe At Work has had clients such as Facebook, Hulu, and Microsoft.[6] Within two years of launch, Soothe had already expanded to 12 cities and raised $12.7 million.[4] By 2015, Soothe had raised a total of $48 million.[7] Kauffman has invested in numerous early-stage technology companies, including Circa in 2012, Fitspot in 2016, and Digits in 2019.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b Murphy, Jen (2017-02-25). "Dodgeball: A Massage Expert's Perfect Escape". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "Metasaurs Founder Reveals Identity, Announces Chainlink Integration Ahead of NFT Mint". Chainlink Today. 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ Shandrow, Kim Lachance. "Hire Team Members Who Are 'Willing to Turn Your Dreams Into a Reality'". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b "On-Demand Massage Startup Soothe Unwinds With $10.6M In New Funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "An investor just poured $10.6 million into an on-demand massage startup". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b c McAlone, Nathan. "This startup works with companies like Facebook and Microsoft to give employees on-demand massages". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ Solomon, Brian. "Soothe Raises $35 Million To Accelerate On-Demand Massage Growth". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-03-10.