Work scheduling app announces funding for European expansion
Deputy – a software firm that helps with scheduling for businesses with hourly paid staff – said its latest investment round brought the app’s total funding to date to £81m.
The company is looking to expand across Europe in its mission to achieve “every shift in the world on Deputy”.
Through its app-based technology, Deputy has rostered 200m shifts, equivalent to more than 1.2bn hours of work.
The software is already used by multiple UK pub businesses, including Boxpark sites; the Castle in Taunton; and the Thirsty Bear pub in London. It has more than 200 employees across Australia, the US and the UK, a figure that will substantially increase.
Getting started
“We’ve had immense success up until now, but we’re only just getting started,” Deputy’s CEO and co-founder Ashik Ahmed said.
“Taking away some of the administrative strain and giving them untold hours back to focus on what matters: running their businesses or spending time with their families.”
Of the 2.3bn hourly paid workers in the world today, Ahmed said too many are still managing their work in archaic ways.
“The opportunity here is huge: we envisage a day where every single shift being worked is powered by Deputy — and this funding allows us to build the best product and engineering team in the world that helps us get there," he added.
Ahmed said he and his co-founder Steve Shelley were delighted with their investor Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm IVP, which is “the perfect partner for us”.
Investment partners
The investment round represents the largest second investment raise in Australian history, the company said.
The 'Series B' financing also saw investment from OpenView, which led the first round of £18m, and firms Square Peg Capital and EVP.
Eric Liaw, partner at IVP, who will join Deputy’s board as part of the terms of the deal said the future of work was “transforming dramatically”.
“Existing solutions are antiquated; paper time clocks, whiteboards in the break room and spreadsheets are woefully inadequate for an increasingly mobile workforce,” he added.
"We are excited to support Ashik, Steve and team as they work towards their goal of ‘every shift in the world on Deputy’.”
