Slinger, a staffing platform for the hospitality industry, has raised £500,000 in a round led by Fuel Ventures.
Founded in 2021, Slinger has built a platform for hospitality workers to find flexible shifts and compare the best prices. Slinger matches workers with cafés, pubs and other venues for speedy recruitment.
The hospitality sector has faced extreme staff shortages following the Covid-19 pandemic. Trade body UKHospitality’s most recent data found that vacancies in the industry are 72% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Slinger aims to help businesses quickly secure part-time staff for shifts as required. The London-based startup claims to offer the “fairest pay” for flexible workers and has committed to the UK’s real living wage, currently £10.90 per hour.
“Our product development is laser-focused on developing more human-led tech solutions to connect people with businesses in a sustainable way,” said Slinger founder Theo-Lee Houston.
“This helps businesses save time (the average shift goes in 60 seconds), offers them flexibility (temp staff), and saves them money (quick filling of shifts means they can open any time they want to, and our model offers a significantly cheaper pipeline to full-time staff.”
Alongside Fuel Ventures, the startup received backing from Ufi Ventures, Cornerstone Partners Resolution Foundation, Wage Stream CFO Tim Parsons, former Google MD DanCovley and the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.
“So many hospitality businesses have problems with staffing, businesses have had to reduce shifts or even shut on certain days because they don’t have the staff and this has very much exacerbated today as a result of Brexit,” said Fuel Ventures.
“Slinger will provide the flexibility for gig workers and alleviate staff shortages by removing the key inefficiencies and roadblocks for people to grab well-paid flexible shifts.”