The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot about the business models behind hiring and recruiting talent.
During that time, people became more comfortable working with people that weren’t in the same physical location as them and using technology to get work done. Companies also became more adept at hiring independent contractors for talent.
Atlanta-based startup Wripple Solutions Inc. accrued the benefits of that phenomenon by providing a marketplace for businesses to find on-demand, interdisciplinary teams for whatever projects they are working on.
Since January 2021, the company has grown from 420 vetted contractors to 1,500, and from 30 clients to 85. The company’s revenue also grew 40% month-over-month during that time, said CEO Shannon Denton.
Named a Startup to Watch in 2022 by Atlanta Inno, Wripple has also achieved an array of brand name clients such as Delta Air Lines Inc. AT&T Inc., Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Silicon Valley Bank.
“Initiatives in most companies are what does the future of work look like, what percent of employees do we hire versus contract, and how do people come into the office again,” said Denton. “The rise of this sort of focus on the future of work has a really long tail.”
Wripple's funding
Coming off that momentum, the company has raised a $2.8 million investment led by Silicon Road Ventures, an Atlanta venture firm that invests in innovation for e-commerce, retail and consumer packaged goods. Other participating investors include BLH Venture Partners LLC, Engage, Service Provider Capital, VentureSouth and Golden Seeds Ventures. The round brings the company’s total funding to approximately $3.8 million.
The investment comes at a time when many investors are pulling back money into startups.
Last year, company valuations skyrocketed to three to five times more than what they would have been previously. That year, five Atlanta startups reached $1 billion valuations.
In recent months, valuations have been reset, going down anywhere from 40% to 70%. Companies don't tend to seek outside capital if their valuations decrease from when they previously raised money. Reports of tech startups cutting back costs and laying off employees are happening around the country.
However, Silicon Road Ventures Managing Partner Sid Mookerji believes that Wripple shows strong potential for future growth, even in the midst of an economic slump.
“During an economic downturn, large corporations are likely to cut marketing staff and relationships with large agencies,” said Mookerji. “When there is a need to scale, there will be a demand for companies like Wripple to rapidly meet the creative marketing needs of these corporations.”
Wripple's plans for growth
The funding will be leveraged by the company to enhance its matching algorithm for its talent marketplace, expand its sales and marketing team and grow its supply of freelance workers.
The company currently has nine employees, which it looks to grow to 21 by the end of the year and up to 40 by the end of 2023, due to the funding and growth in revenue.
Launched in 2018, Wripple was founded by executives at digital media company Razorfish, Denton, Bonny Davis Block and Ray Samuels.
The goal was to create a platform for companies to look at different teams of independent professionals, since that process was often inefficient and time-consuming.
“We started to hear from our clients that we have to go faster, cheaper and better," said Denton. "It was really taxing as an agency to constantly swap out the talent on a daily basis. We said, ‘Let's look at what is happening out there in the gig economy, there's a huge opportunity to create that same type of platform, but really focused on agile marketing teams.'”
A study conducted by the company found that its software was able to provide businesses 43% in cost savings and a 500% reduction in wait time when searching for talent to work on projects, Denton said.
