Recruitment platform for gig and hourly workers Fountain has announced the closing of a $23 million Series B funding round led by DCM, with participation from 51job and existing investors Origin Ventures, Uncork Capital, and others. The Series B brings the company’s total fundraising to $34 million.
Fountain aims to change the gig economy and the process of how companies hire hourly staff. The vast majority of the workforce are shift-based or hourly workers – 85% of the global workforce, or nearly 2.7 billion people, are paid hourly, and in the U.S. alone, there are more than 80 million hourly workers. The gig and freelance economy is now growing three times faster than the rest of the workforce and will make up 43% of the workforce by 2020.
“It’s clear the way people work is changing, but the processes companies use to hire hourly workers aren’t,” said Keith Ryu, CEO and Co-Founder of Fountain.
“Recruiting workers from this group is fundamentally different than recruiting for your corporate roles. 90% of this population aren’t on LinkedIn, and 40% are unresponsive after completing an application. We’ve had immense success to date, but we’re far more excited about our future. Our team is thrilled to have the additional resources to continue helping our customers fill their talent needs, and further our mission of opening opportunities for the global workforce.”
Founded in 2015 during the initial height of the gig economy, Fountain now processes more than 1 million applications to fill 150,000 hourly and gig positions every month for its customers, including Taco Bell franchisee Golden Gate Bell, Chick-fil-A, Lime, Safeway, and more. Since its inception, Fountain has placed more than four million jobs.
“As the unrivaled leader in gig hiring and recruiting, Fountain is already reshaping the way billions of job seekers interact with employers,” says David Chao, co-founder & Partner at DCM. “Fountain has been exceptionally capital efficient and has best-in-class customer retention,” added Kyle Lui, Partner at DCM.
Fountain will invest this latest round of funding in R&D to accelerate product development for existing customers as well as expand its reach across businesses within the restaurant and hospitality industry.