Shyft Technologies fetches $1.5 mln seed

Seattle-based Shyft Technologies, a provider of an app that lets workers trade and cover their shifts, has secured $1.5 million in seed funding. Madrona Venture Group led the round.

PRESS RELEASE

Seattle, WA – July 13, 2016 – Shyft Technologies, a Seattle based mobile company, announced $1.5 million in seed funding today from Madrona Venture Group and angels including Heather Redman, Russell Okung, Edgar Martinez, and T.A. McCann.

The company’s mobile app connects tens of thousands of shift workers based on their employer and location so they can easily trade and cover shifts. In the last 3 months the company has grown their user base by 400%, and had more than 26,000 hours of work traded through the Shyft app.

“Shift workers want flexibility in their schedules but until now changing schedules required a convoluted and time consuming chain of disconnected social media channels and phone calls,” said BrettP atrontasch, founder and CEO. “Shyft connects workers directly with others at their location and lets them quickly and easily exchange and cover shifts. The viral growth speaks to the overwhelming desire of hourly workers to exert more control over their work schedules.”

To use Shyft, workers just download the app and identify themselves. They are instantly linked with others at their location. One worker from McDonalds downloaded the app and within 24 hours, 70 of her co-workers were on the platform. Workers can also offer greater incentives to cover shifts by adding a tip to the request for coverage.

“The US labor market is changing; workers don’t just take a schedule set in stone every two weeks. In the era of Uber and on-demand models where workers can turn their availability on and off, they want more flexibility. The bottoms up, mobile-first approach that Shyft is taking to tackle this market makes perfect sense and is clearly resonating with workers,” said S. Somasegar, Venture Partner, Madrona Venture Group. “We are excited to support Shyft as they build out the service which we see as a marketplace serving both workers and employers.”

Founder and CEO Brett Patrontasch knows this market well. His first startup organized thousands of college students to fulfill summer jobs. With a first hand knowledge not only of the scheduling nightmares but of how employers want hours filled, Brett set out to create tools that were easy to use. Shyft’s founding team includes Brett Patrontasch, Daniel Chen, Kyle Liu, and Chris Pitchford. The team is a Seattle Techstars 2016 graduate.

About Shyft
Shyft is building a community of hourly workers around the ability to flexibly schedule their lives. Workers interested in joining the Shyft network can download the app from the App Store or Google Play https://bnc.lt/Shyft . Or tweet to us and we will shoot you a link! @myshyft www.facebook.com/myshyft