- Labour platform HireHand is using technology to enhance, not eliminate human work
- Since 2015 it has helped over 2,000 Hired Hands to take home £3m in pay
- Launches£1M funding round on Seedrs
Intelligent staffing platform HireHand today announces that in four years since launch, it has helped over 2,000 Hired Hands take home over £3 million in pay. This extra income is needed, as 35% of the platform’s users are from disadvantaged backgrounds, over half could be categorised as “underemployed”; with many living in households where income is below the poverty threshold.
HireHand began in 2015 as a social enterprise helping long-term unemployed individuals back into work via partner relationships with charities like Thames Reach and Prince’s Trust. It works in the food retail sector, counting some of the most iconic brands in London amongst its clients: Ottolenghi, Rosa’s Thai and Bao London.
HireHand is using technology to enhance not eliminating human work; putting people back in control by giving them the additional income they require in a way that works for them. Practically, people are matched with business owners who need more help at busy times. The proprietary matching platform was designed by a McKinsey labour optimisation expert, built by ex-Swiftkey Engineers, and backed by Mustard Seed, a top shelf venture fund.
The Mustard Seed-backed company today also announces a £1M funding round on leading investment platform Seedrs. Funds raised will be used to expand its offering to the construction sector and take its food retail offering to NYC. Additionally, as automation starts to sweep through other white-collar industries such as pathology and nursing, HireHand will look to implement its staffing solution in these areas.
Orson Stadler, Investment Director at Mustard Seed, commented: “We back companies that are able to combine solving the biggest global social issues with the utmost commercial rigour. HireHand exemplifies this by being a leader in defining how the human workforce can thrive in an age of automation and doing so with blue-chip expertise and technical skill.”
HireHand Founder and CEO Scott Erwin, said: “Labour platforms should put people first. It sounds obvious but is clearly not to most tech unicorns and their bankers who are increasingly placing their bets on robots – to the detriment of humans. I can assure you this is wrong, not least because in my previous life as a management consultant we repeatedly tried to replace humans with robots and failed. HireHand’s radical approach is to use technology to enhance not eliminate human work with a particular focus on securing needed extra income for the underemployed in a way that suits them.
For more information, please visit: https://www.seedrs.com/hirehand
