Brazilian recruiting startup Worc has just announced a BRL 20 million round led by SoftBank, which is, according to the startup, the largest Seed funding ever raised by a Latin American HRtech. The funds Positive Ventures, SaaSHolic, Latitud Fund, K50 Ventures, Honey Island Capital, Aimorés Investimentos, and Mago Capital co-signed the check.
Founded by Alex Apter and João Pedro de Simone, Worc presents itself as a “Tinder-like app” focused on recruiting professionals to work specifically in the foodservice sector. Worc’s platform connects industry entrepreneurs to full-time or on-demand workers and offers a set of tools for the process of managing, recruiting, selecting, and developing employees.
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Through its AI platform, Worc says it can ensure the “best and fastest match” between establishments and candidates. One of the platform’s features, called “Cloud Team,” directs on-demand hiring to the establishment’s busiest shifts, reducing payroll costs.
According to Apter, managing on-demand hiring and reducing full-time staff can cut payroll costs by 45%. “We see a market of up to 50,000 establishments using on-demand workers by the end of 2022,” he said.
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Worc started operating in 2019 and claims to have a 969% growth in job opportunities generated by 2021. Now, with the funding, it plans to expand the reach of the platform and impact more than 1 million families with the connections and jobs it generates.
“We will expand to more states beyond the Southeast and increase the customer base more than fivefold and the candidate community more than sevenfold,” Apter said, explaining that the funds will be allocated to HRtech’s technology.
Mariana Foresti, managing partner at Honey Island Capital, explained that Worc caught the investors’ eye because it has a rare mix of execution-focused entrepreneurs, positive social impact, fast-paced growth, and a huge market to address. “Since we first invested in Worc less than 12 months ago, the company has grown its customer base sixfold and helped in hiring and qualifying more than 50,000 workers. The new round comes to increase the candidates base and deliver a better journey for the worker in finding a job and, for restaurant owners, a complete workforce management solution,” she said.
“By helping entrepreneurs in the foodservice sector to find the ideal team for their business, we foster management and employability in one of the most sensitive sectors of the Brazilian economy,” added Marco Camhaji, SoftBank Latin America Fund‘s early-stage investment partner.
