labor-marketplace
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Shiftsmart and the art of shrinking a job
A job can be too large a commitment. A shift can fit. Shiftsmart built a labor marketplace around that distinction - and is now asking what those hours actually accomplish.
Veryable and the expensive fiction of an average day
A warehouse can hire for its average workload and still be wrong every morning. Veryable sells a way to match labor to the day that actually arrives - provided managers know what that day requires.
Buildforce wants electricians to work themselves into the next job
Finishing a building can mean losing a job. Buildforce is betting that electrical staffing, portable work records, and a proper payroll can make the next assignment less of a gamble.
The Shift That Wouldn’t Stay Filled
A warehouse can fill a shift on paper and still have an empty loading dock at dawn. WorkWhile built its business around that gap between a booking and a person who actually arrives.
Traba
Traba is a technology-driven marketplace that matches light industrial businesses - warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturers and event venues - with vetted temporary workers who pick up shifts through a mobile app. Founded in 2021 by Mike Shebat and Akshay Buddiga, the company uses AI, geolocation and computer vision to fill shifts fast and cut the no-shows that plague traditional staffing agencies, reporting a 99% fill rate against a roughly 46% industry average. Backed by Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst, Traba has raised about $45.6M and positions itself as infrastructure for the industrial supply chain, with staffing as the starting point.
Wonolo
Wonolo is an on-demand staffing marketplace whose name stands for 'Work Now Locally.' Founded in 2013 out of Coca-Cola's Founders program, it connects businesses that need workers for warehousing, delivery, merchandising, event staffing, and general labor with a pool of more than one million registered workers ('Wonoloers'). Employers post shifts that can be filled in minutes, and workers browse and accept nearby gigs through a mobile app with fast payouts. The company has raised over $200 million in venture funding and is used by thousands of companies across the United States.
Instawork
Instawork is an AI-powered on-demand staffing platform that connects businesses with vetted hourly workers across hospitality, warehousing, food service, retail, and light industrial sectors. Operating in 400+ cities across the U.S. and Canada, the company uses over 2 billion data signals to match businesses with pre-vetted workers, achieving a 98% worker show rate and filling 90% of jobs within 24 hours — metrics that traditional staffing agencies rarely approach. Founded in 2015 and backed by Y Combinator, Benchmark, Greylock, and TCV, Instawork has raised $171M and serves 15,000+ businesses, with a network of 10M+ workers. The platform handles everything from a single catering shift to large-scale distribution center operations.
Trusted Health
Trusted Health is a labor marketplace and workforce management platform for the healthcare industry, connecting nurses and allied health clinicians with hospitals through software that replaces the legacy travel-nursing agency model. Its consumer-facing platform helps nurses find travel and per-diem jobs; its enterprise Works platform helps health systems build internal float pools and on-demand workforces.