Zlien Closes Round of Investment Capital

Aug. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- NEW ORLEANS — Today, the New Orleans Startup Fund announced the closing of an initial round of financing for Zlien, a mechanics lien filing service that helps contractors and suppliers manage liens, claims and receivables nationwide.

“The Startup Fund is delighted to invest in Zlien, a business providing a turn-key service to the construction industry, helping them manage and enforce lien rights to get paid on receivables, ” said Leslie Jacobs, CEO of the Startup Fund. “The Startup Fund works to accelerate the growth of high-potential companies in the Greater New Orleans region that have national—or global—aspirations. This infusion of capital will allow Zlien to create new jobs in New Orleans, in turn allowing the company to expand business nationwide.”

Zlien provides both large and small construction companies an easy, cost-effective way to collect on outstanding debts. “This is a very exciting time for Zlien. It's our mission to make mechanics lien filing and compliance simple for the construction industry, and this funding is going to help Zlien continue its aggressive development of solutions in this space,” said Scott Wolfe, CEO of Zlien.

“NOSF has been a significant asset to our company. More than guidance through the funding process, the Startup Fund has been concerned about our business, connecting Zlien with highly qualified contacts who not only understand our company's goals and challenges, but who are actually willing to help. The experience and knowledge we've collected working with NOSF absolutely matured our company at least three times faster than we could have done on our own.”

Zlien’s executives boast strong New Orleans ties, and the decision to locate their business in New Orleans was an easy one, according to Wolfe. “There's no better place to start a business right now than New Orleans. There's a lot of talent in the city and the entrepreneurial community is a tight-knit bunch with a real solid base of resources,” Wolfe said. Moreover, New Orleans native Jennifer Smiley serves as Zlien’s COO, where she has guided the company to year-over-year growth.

The New Orleans Startup Fund is funded through a combination of private and public programs, including the Louisiana Economic Development Corporation, U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Louisiana Office of Community Development/Disaster Recovery Unit.

About Zlien
Zlien provides contractors, suppliers and other construction participants with a turn-key solution to the preparation and filing of its preliminary notices, mechanics liens, state and private bond claims, and miller act claims. Companies can order these notices and lien documents as needed for low flat fees, or they can pay monthly to handle all of their notices, liens and bond claims. To help our clients manage lien compliance issues across the nation, Zlien also publishes a web-based application that calculates lien and notice deadlines.

More information is available at http://www.zlien.com.

About New Orleans Startup Fund
The New Orleans Startup Fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) evergreen seed fund established by Greater New Orleans area business and financial leaders to accelerate the growth of early-stage, innovative businesses into venture-ready companies. The Startup Fund’s mission is to create jobs and economic prosperity for the 10-parish region of Greater New Orleans by providing seed capital and business assistance to early-stage firms that demonstrate significant growth potential. The Startup Fund measures success by the creation of a strong portfolio of companies able to attract outside financing and the development of a local capital ecosystem.

More information is available at http://www.neworleansstartupfund.org.