A Ballard startup has just received a huge cash influx from local investors, according to our news partners, The Seattle Times. Buuteeq, based just north of the Ballard Bridge, builds online marketing tools for hotels, and has been provided with $10 million from Seattle’s Madrona Venture and Concur, a Redmond travel expense management software company, to go global.
Buuteeq was started by former Microsoft employees Forest Key, Adam Brownstein and Brian Saab, who sealed their partnership with a handshake over burgers at the Dick’s in Wallingford, according to the Times. They started the company early last year and has grown substantially since then, now boasting 4,000 hotels, resorts and inns that use their service. Key, the chief executive, told the Times, “We think we can get into the tens of thousands.”
Right now, the company has 45 employees, 30 of which are in Seattle. They’ll be hiring 20 new people over the next year, says the Times. Their other offices are in Palo Alto, Calif., and Santiago, Chile.
