Start-up Connecteam Raises $37 Million - at over $100m valuation - To Help Employers Remotely Manage Deskless Workers
(Forbes, 28th April 2021) As an officer in the Israeli Navy, Amir Nehemia found few things more frustrating than trying to communicate essential information to soldiers in the field. Out from behind their desks, and without access to email, they could only be reached by phone calls.
After leaving the Navy, he realized it was also a problem many blue-collar workers faced. So in 2016, he and friends Daniel Nuriel, 32, and Yonatan Nuriel, 30, founded Connecteam, a smartphone app that allows employers to communicate with, train and schedule deskless employees in industries such as retail, construction and manufacturing, says CEO Nehemia, 33.
On Wednesday, the start-up announced it had raised $37 million from investors including Insight Partners, O.G. Tech and Israeli software company Wix’s leadership team, bringing the New York-based company’s total funding to $40 million at a valuation Nehemia says is more than $100 million. (D5 Capital invested in Connecteam in the company’s first seed round in 2016).
Though large companies like Nike, Sodexo and SodaStream use Connecteam to manage their workers, Nehemia says many of his 10,000 clients are small, mom-and-pop businesses.
“If you have more than 70% of your employees without any access to PCs or corporate email, it's difficult to manage your day to day, because you can’t use Slack,” he says. “There is a new generation of employees. They don't want to work with pen and paper, and they are not going to send a fax. They want a tech solution.”
Deskless workers can use the app to schedule shifts, clock in and out, create operational reports and complete daily checklists. In turn, employers can train and onboard new employees, as well as communicate with workers through announcements, surveys and live polls. Employers pay a monthly fee (starting at $39) to use the app, though a free, basic version is also available, Nehemia says.
Connecteam serves more than 10,000 customers around from over 200 deskless industries.
Many of the hospitality businesses that used Connecteam have shuttered as a result of the pandemic, but Nehemia says that hasn’t stunted the company’s growth. In 2020, it saw its customer base grow more than 400%, something Nehemia attributes to an increase in usage by those in the security and cleaning industries. He now counts more than 150,000 active users in over 60 countries.
Nehemia acknowledges that Connecteam isn’t the only start-up capitalizing on remote work trends. For example, global remote onboarding platforms like Deel and Remote have seen massive growth this past year, as has workforce marketplace start-up Shiftsmart, which also allows blue-collar workers to schedule shifts via a smartphone app. But Nehemia says he sees a huge market for his product, as 80% of the global workforce doesn’t have a desk job, according to a study by venture capital firm Emergence Capital.
Connecteam is one of the few focusing on the deskless blue-collar worker and building features that take their preferences into account, he says. For instance, while most of the app’s users speak English, some can’t write in the language, so Connecteam created a voice recording feature for these employees.
It’s this people-first focus that led Avishai Abrahami, Wix’s CEO, to invest in the company. “I am not surprised to see it’s accelerated growth: it has the right mindset, an outstanding product, and a vast market that is pro-actively looking to do things differently as they are tired of the old ways,” Abrahami said in a statement. “I believe we are going to hear much about Connecteam in the future.”