Howbout launches innovative social calendar app with $8M series A funding from Goodwater Capital

Howbout, the innovative social calendar app designed to help users find time to connect with friends, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. Led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from FJ Labs, Sequel, and footballer Harry Maguire, this brings the company’s total funding to over $13 million. Existing investors, including Boost Capital and Angel Invest, also participated in the round. Founded in August 2020 by Neil Tanna, Jake Jenner, and Duncan Cowan, Howbout was created to solve the common problem of scheduling time with friends in busy social lives.

The app stands out by allowing users to share their calendars with friends, enabling groups to plan events more seamlessly. Currently, more than 75% of Howbout’s users—most of whom are under 25—share their entire schedule with at least one friend. The company boasts over 4 million monthly active users and more than 50 million events created on the platform. Howbout has gained popularity across the U.S., UK, Germany, Australia, and Canada.

With features like event scheduling, availability sharing, group chat for planning, and even the ability to add future or past events to a “bucket list” or “memories,” Howbout is designed to make social planning simpler. Unlike professional scheduling tools like Doodle, Howbout is targeted at helping users coordinate their personal lives. The app is especially popular with what the company calls “chief friend officers”—those in friend groups who take the lead in organizing meetups and gatherings.

Howbout co-founder Neil Tanna explained, “We wanted to make time a social entity.” With its focus on creating a social network centred around time and shared calendars, Howbout aims to further expand its user base, particularly in the U.S.