Manufacturers, distributors and other hourly employers are struggling to fill jobs. Share Mobility is growing quickly by helping find workers in places the companies hadn't looked.
The Columbus startup has grown throughout Ohio and 10 more states in just the past year – and just raised $12 million in venture capital to spread faster – with its logistics software for HR departments to manage transportation as an employee benefit.
"Transportation is going to be a way for those companies to fill the jobs they need wherever they put their facilities," Share co-founder and CEO Ryan McManus said. "We want to make transportation-as-a-benefit as common as health insurance."
Share brings a turnkey system automating thousands of decisions on where to place stops, timing, and managing outside transportation companies. It opens up new labor pools for manufacturers and distribution centers with no nearby bus lines – thus advancing diversity and equity.
"People don’t live near where a lot of the jobs are," McManus said. "Better-paying jobs require you to have a car. ... It’s become an acceptable mechanism to discriminate against those who can't afford a car.
"Those people are able to earn more, and your job pool is going to increase 20% to 60%."
About 8.5% of U.S. households have no access to a vehicle, according to the 2020 census. It's the same percentage in Columbus – but more than 22% in cities including Cleveland and Detroit.
Transportation was the main barrier to getting a job for mostly Black residents on the south and west sides of Chicago, where 27% of households lack vehicles, according to a 2021 focus group study by the Metropolitan Planning Council.
Finding and keeping talent tops supply chain and competition for the biggest challenge businesses report to JobsOhio, said Brian Faust, CFO of the economic development organization and head of its Growth Capital fund that joined this month's Share investment.
"A lot of the labor force that is interested in working isn’t able to access the opportunity," Faust said. "This solution opens that up."
How does Share's system work?
Employers pay Share, which hires and pays outside transportation companies, such as charter bus operators, taxi and limo services, or non-emergency medical transporters with capacity.
The transportation partners must have 14-passenger vans and meet Share requirements such as safety, liability insurance, vehicle quality and on-time performance (all managed and tracked through the software).
"It’s something that companies have not tackled because of the challenges and the knowledge required to do it," McManus said. "They’re paying for it because they see a significant ROI in filled jobs and reduced turnover. That increases their production capabilities. Open jobs are directly related to revenue."
Another growth driver: A half-dozen states and municipalities around the country have passed laws mandating commuter benefits, which can include employer-paid rides.
Venture capital firms investing for impact
Several of the funds participating in the round invest for social impact, including the Ohio Social Impact Fund, a joint venture of Columbus-based Loud Capital and Atlas Venture Partners.
Even for workers with a car, McManus said, "Giving someone $5,000 more a year than spending that on a commute can be life-changing."
Iron Gate Capital and Renewal Funds led the Series A. New investors joining the round are Employment Technology Fund, JobsOhio Growth Capital, Seamless Capital, TrendForward Capital, and Venn Ventures. Repeat investors include Cleveland's JumpStart, JMAC,and SustainVC.
"I think of our fund as having a double bottom line," Faust of JobsOhio said. "(Besides investment returns) there has to be some economic development purpose or nexus with the state of Ohio for us to participate."
Share met metrics for finances, management team and potential for scale, Faust said. More intriguing was the workforce data the startup collects and maps.
"It helps guide the companies' recruiting efforts ... to figure out where prospective employees are," Faust said.
What is Share focused on?
U.S. nonfarm employers had 11.4 million openings in April, seasonally adjusted, up from 9.3 million one year ago, according to data this week from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 3.5 million of those are in the sectors where Share is focused now: manufacturing, wholesale trade and logistics, and healthcare.
Share is targeting large corporations with 500 or more employees apiece at multiple sites. As it grows in a market, it could add smaller clients or coalitions of small businesses.
The pandemic led to a huge shift from Share's earlier model of operating vanpools for largely white-collar downtown office employers. For those workers a commuting perk let them answer emails on the ride and helped the environment; for the ones it's focused on now, it's the only way to get to work.
Community Refugee & Immigration Services, a Columbus resettlement organization, alerted McManus to the opportunity when he came looking to hire drivers. The agency made introductions that led to a group of Licking County warehouses paying for rides from the Northland area.
Share is forming partnerships with resettlement groups and workforce development organizations in new markets.
McManus also aims to form public-private partnerships in which transit agencies run employer-funded routes, creating a new revenue stream besides fares and taxes.
Share's staff has doubled over the year to 36 today. It's hiring in sales and engineering from the round.
Columbus is the last market where Share is winding down operations of its own ride service. The company kept a small van fleet it can use to quickly launch in a new market while onboarding transportation vendors.
"Our customers are begging us to open up in new markets quickly," McManus said.
