WorkHound, the company that has been a growing force in gathering feedback from drivers and other employees, has received a new round of series A funding far more than in any previous round.
The $12 million round, completely funded by Level Equity, is almost six times what the company has raised in previous rounds, according to WorkHound CEO Max Farrell, who said the biggest investment prior to the Level Equity funding was $2.1 million.
Level Equity had not been an investor in WorkHound previously.
WorkHound was founded in 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa, by Farrell and Andrew Kirpalani, who is now CTO. It also has an office in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In a prepared statement released in conjunction with the funding announcement, Farrell said WorkHound has “been able to leverage modest financial investments into sustainable business wins. This is by far our most substantial fundraise, and we are well positioned to use it for our most explosive growth to date.”
WorkHound says it has 70,000 users of its phone-based app that allows them to provide feedback that is then given to employers. Farrell refers to it as a “feedback loop.”
Scaling that universe of users might not need $12 million, but growing into other areas does, according to Farrell.
“We started to map out what does the next phase of the company look like,” Farrell said. “How do we really take feedback management to the next level?”
Farrell said trucking is the company’s “beachhead and it has served us incredibly well.” But he added that WorkHound has “been built to serve distributed work forces.” A fleet of drivers is distributed because it is located in locations far and wide.
Even within the trucking sector, WorkHound’s services have been extended beyond drivers to work with office staff and technicians. It is now garnering interest from other companies in the supply chain, such as warehouses and manufacturing companies, Farrell said.
“We know WorkHound is well suited to help companies during this moment of the Great Resignation,” Farrell said, using a term to describe the current high levels of employees departing for other jobs. “Retention is the new recruiting and we’re well positioned to help companies across the supply chain.”
WorkHound currently has about 25 employees. With the additional funding, Farrell said he expects to be growing the company in almost all areas, citing sales and marketing, product, engineering and customer success.
Even with the relatively small number of employees, WorkHound does have workers in all four U.S. time zones. It will grow its footprint in Chattanooga but it isn’t limited to that location. “We are in a global talent landscape,” he said.
In the prepared statement, Sarah Sommer, the co-founding partner at Level Equity, said WorkHound has “already been able to experience impressive successes by delivering undeniable value to their clients, and we are excited to see how our partnership will help propel them to even greater heights.”
Level Equity says it has raised more than $3 billion in capital and has made more than 85 investments since it was founded in 2011.
More articles by John Kingston
Drivers tell WorkHound onboarding goes a long way in retention
Calls to increase U.S. oil production mostly getting shrugs for now