July 8th, 2021 – Instawork, the leading digital marketplace connecting local businesses with qualified professionals across the U.S., today announced it has raised $60 million in Series C financing, bringing total funding to $100 million. Craft Ventures led the round, with participation from Greylock, Corner Ventures, Four River Group, WndrCo, and Tilman Fertitta, owner of Landry’s and the Houston Rockets, alongside existing investors Benchmark, Spark Capital, GV, Burst Capital, and SV Angel. Craft General Partner, Jeff Fluhr will join Instawork’s board of directors.
Instawork’s business has accelerated dramatically over the past 15 months as it adapted to the significant labor market effects of COVID-19, quickly expanding its marketplace to help address an imbalance of labor supply and demand. Instawork currently supports a number of industries, including food and beverage, hospitality, retail, and warehouse logistics. There are now over one million Instawork Professionals (Pros) across the U.S., many of whom create a profile, find a shift that matches their skills and interests, and start working in under 24 hours. Shifts available via Instawork have grown 8X in less than two years, with thousands of new Pros building profiles in its marketplace each day. The new funding will allow Instawork to continue rapidly expanding into new markets, job categories, and industries, while also investing in more training and development initiatives to help hourly professionals advance their careers.
“Our vision is to create the economic opportunities for local professionals and businesses that help everyone thrive. Balancing the demands of pandemic job recovery, security, and flexibility with the massive labor needs posed by a reopened economy has never been more important,” said Sumir Meghani, co-founder and CEO of Instawork. “We are proud that our marketplace has become the go-to solution to connect qualified professionals looking for work with the businesses that need them most, and we are grateful for the opportunity to invest more in our local communities to help them adapt to today’s evolving labor market and support broader economic recovery.”
Through Instawork, Pros can easily register to share their unique work experience and skills, and access a variety of available short-term and long-term job opportunities that match their qualifications, interests, and schedules. The platform provides insight into each opportunity, including workplace reviews and hourly pay, which averages $18/hour. Businesses that rely on Instawork Pros range from nationally-recognized organizations, such as Marriott and Sun Basket, to retailers seeing massive supply chain disruption and local hospitality businesses that need to staff service roles quickly. These businesses are consistently matched with high quality, reliable Pros to fill available shifts and deliver valuable services.
“As vaccine distribution expands dramatically across the U.S., we are in the midst of the most rapid economic recovery in U.S. history. Every day we hear more news about businesses that can’t hire workers to meet the sharp rise in demand,” said Jeff Fluhr, General Partner at Craft Ventures. “Instawork has cracked the code for hiring flexible hourly workers: its seamless marketplace solves the problem that hospitality businesses, restaurants, warehouses, sports stadiums, and retail outlets have all been experiencing.”
Instawork Pro benefits:
Online onboarding usually in less than 24 hours
Access to competitive hourly job opportunities
Compensation for completed shifts distributed in as fast as a few hours
Peer network for Pros offering feedback surrounding team and company dynamics, support, job guidance, and other insights
Instawork Partner (business) benefits:
Quick access to qualified work seekers in their community
Reliability for staffing critical shifts, seasonal needs, long-term placements, and major events (Instawork Pros have a 98% show-up rate)
About Instawork:
Founded in 2016, Instawork is the leading flexible staffing solution for local, hourly professionals. Its digital marketplace connects thousands of businesses and more than one million workers in the U.S., filling a critical role in local economies. Instawork helps businesses in food & beverage, hospitality, and warehouse/logistics industries fill temporary and permanent job opportunities in more than 25 U.S. markets. For more information visit www.instawork.com
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