A couple of months ago we first covered Soho OS, describing its offering as a soup-to-nuts “hybrid of Quicken + Zoho + SalesForce”. Today, the company is announcing that it has secured $1 million in funding from The Time. This is on top of the $250K the company had raised in its pre-seed round.

In our initial post, the company offered 1000 beta invites to TechCrunch readers, and in response, 7000 signed-up. Today the company is removing the closed Beta gate, opening up the service to all. Soho OS is sweetening things up for TechCrunch readers with $20 towards communication services for all new TechCrunch registrants. Just follow this link: http://www.sohoos.com/welcome/techcrunch/

The company has already begun putting the money to good use. As noted in the initial post, “the interface could certainly use a UX overhaul,” and it got one, and a new logo to boot. With a new color scheme, layout and consolidation, the new interface’s look & feel is softer, more pleasant on the eye, and more convenient to use. A definite improvement on the interface we previously reviewed.

Soho OS also beefed up communications features with video chat, SMS, VOIP, voice messaging, as well as improved conference calling and broadcast emails.

I really like where Soho OS is going but would like to see them charging a tiered service fee rather than rely exclusively on cutting commissions off their 3rd party integrated services. There’s no shame in charging your customers kids, especially if you provide them with clear value. Tattoo that please.

Crunchbase

• SOHO OS

Company: Soho OS

Website: SohoOS.com

Launch Date: 2009

Funding: $3M

Soho OS allows users to manage all aspects of their small business in a single platform and offers all the primary tools needed to help their business grow and succeed. Soho OS aims to create a unique Eco-system that will empower small businesses in today’s corporate dominated world. Soho OS’ SaaS-based technology provides users with free, customizable cloud based business management tools with networking capabilities. Premium services are also available on a pay-as-you-go basis.

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