Steady, an Atlanta-based income-building platform that provides workers in the gig economy with flexible on-demand jobs and financial services, has raised $15 million in Series B financing round led by Recruit Strategic Partners.
The funds will primarily be used to accelerate growth at Steady and provide support for hourly and gig workers who are facing economic challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. Steady will work to grow its U.S. based data, product and technical operations, according to a press release.
The round included previous investor Propel Ventures Partners, along with Flourish Ventures, Loeb Enterprises and CMFG Ventures. Steady will appoint a director from Recruit Strategic Partners to its board as part of the funding.
Steady has about 50 employees and with this new round will be making additional hires, particularly data scientists, according to a spokesperson. The new round brings Steady’s total funding to $38.5 million.
Steady helps “alternative workers”—including those looking to supplement full-time jobs, those who work part-time and those who prefer the flexibility of multiple forms of work. That broad group of workers accounts for about 70 million people in the U.S. workforce today, according to the company’s CEO Adam Roseman. This workforce is challenged to find multiple pieces of income, find career advancement and even allocate benefits like paid time off, which is where Steady comes in, he previously told Atlanta Inno.
“With the unfathomable challenges being faced by hourly and gig workers in America today, it is necessary for them to be able to access a platform that provides them with community-based support,” Roseman said in a statement. “Steady’s mission of utilizing the power of our community data to better the outcome for the entire community is more critically important than ever and we are very excited to have the capital to be able to build aggressively to support America’s core workforce.”
The pandemic has brought Steady's mission --- to improve the lives of hourly and gig workers in America --- to the forefront. Using the Steady app, a gig worker can track their income, receive income insights and guidance on work opportunities, get paid and receive benefits --- including Steady's new telemedicine support.
According to Steady data, there were 53 million low-wage-earning workers in the country making $10.25 per hour on average. Despite being above minimum wage, that number is below what's considered the living wage for several regions.
“Numerous very disturbing trends have emerged from our data during the current economic crisis, including nearly half of Steady Members with 50% or greater income loss are African American and over 70% of those Steady Members face such dire conditions that they are having to skip meals," Roseman said. "We are focused on delivering immediate and measurable economic value to our Members during these unbelievably traumatic times.”
To help gig workers in the Covid-19 era working environment, Steady launched a new initiative in April: Steady Together. It was designed to help workers find high demand jobs, earn cash grants and provide telehealth medical. About $2 million was been distributed in emergency grants since the initiative started, thanks to the help from ambassador and investor Shaquille O'Neal. Last month, the company announced it would provide free telemedicine subscriptions to members through August 1.
“Gig and LMI workers are at a critical juncture right now. They’re the backbone of the American economy but they are facing low wages, lack of health care and no realistic idea of what the amount of their next paycheck will be," Emmalyn Shaw, managing partner of Flourish Ventures, said in a statement. "Adam and the rest of the team at Steady have created an app that streamlines the work and financial lives of 2 million gig workers and counting, providing the support they need to navigate these challenging times.”
