AUSTIN, TX — Workrise, the leading workforce management platform for the skilled trades, has raised a $300 million Series E round led by Baillie Gifford, with new investor Franklin Templeton joining existing investors including Founders Fund, Bedrock Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Moore Strategic Ventures, 137 Ventures, and Brookfield Growth Partners.
Workrise connects skilled laborers with infrastructure and energy companies looking to staff and manage projects efficiently. The company’s online platform matches workers with more than 500 companies in its network, manages payroll and benefits, and provides access to training.
Founded in 2014 as a platform to match skilled laborers with companies in the oil and gas industry, Workrise has since broadened its business to serve companies and trade workers in the solar, wind, commercial construction, and defense industries. The company will use the latest investment to continue to expand into new markets served by its platform.
“The shift to clean energy and a redoubling of investment in infrastructure are opening up jobs that are desperately in need of filling,” said Xuan Yong, Workrise co-founder and CEO. “Our platform makes it easier for skilled workers to find work and for companies to hire in-demand workers. We are grateful to everyone who has backed our vision for bringing infrastructure and energy staffing into the future.”
“Workrise’s online management platform is disrupting a sector that’s so far been slow to adopt new technologies,” says Dave Bujnowski, investment manager at Baillie Gifford. “What’s particularly inspiring is that it’s helping job seekers develop the skills required to succeed in an industry that is changing significantly.”
The latest funding follows a decision by the company earlier this year to change its name from RigUp to mark the broadening of its business and comes amid plans by Workrise to expand its corporate offices in Austin, Texas.
Workrise now serves more than 70 metro areas in the U.S., including Atlanta, where the company is matching trade workers with commercial construction companies, and in Broomfield, CO where the company trains and matches workers to jobs across the U.S. wind industry.
As it enlarges its footprint, Workrise offers trade workers access to training that equips them for energy and infrastructure jobs on the rise. Last year, Workrise placed more than 4,500 workers, or nearly a third of all its workers placed in 2020, in renewable-energy jobs.
