Traba, an online marketplace that connects light industrial workers with businesses that need to fill shifts, raised $22 million to expand into new markets and add more features to its platform.
The funding was led by Founders Fund, the venture capital firm led by billionaire Peter Thiel and OpenStore founder Keith Rabois. Menlo Park, California's Khosla Ventures contributed to the round.
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Founded in 2021, Miami and New York-based Traba reports it serves "tens of thousands" of workers and hundreds of businesses that operate warehouses, distribution centers, food processing facilities and other light industrial spaces.
"The company has quadrupled their revenue over the past year and is still accelerating growth every quarter,” said Rabois, general partner at Founders Fund. “We almost never see companies sustain this speed of customer adoption while simultaneously expanding contribution margins."
Traba's high performance culture matches other Founders Fund portfolio companies, he said. They include Airbnb, Facebook, Stripe and SpaceX.
The startup is now backed by nearly $44 million in investor capital. In April, it signed a lease to occupy a 2,744 square foot office space at the SunTrust International Center in downtown Miami.
While there are thousands of temporary staffing companies in the U.S., the light industrial market still has problems filling jobs due to inefficient processes like outdated job posting boards and paper timesheets, Traba reports. The average fill rate for open jobs in 46%, with seven days to complete each request.
In contrast, Traba says it has a 99% rate and requires less than a day to fill open jobs. The average pay for jobs posted on Traba is above minimum wage.
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The startup uses machine learning, third-party data integrations and other technology to match temporary workers with the jobs that work best for them. On the business side, the platform includes information such as work history and reliability ratings to ensure they can match with top-tier workers.
For years, U.S. manufacturing businesses have struggled to hire enough employees. Labor shortages are a main reason that 70% report falling behind in scheduled production, McKinsey reports. According to the consulting firm, 2.4 million industrial jobs went unfilled over the last decade at a cost of $2.5 trillion to the economy.
“Our mission at Traba is to empower both businesses and workers to reach their full productivity and potential, which is why we’re excited to accelerate our growth with this new funding,” said CEO and co-founder Mike Shebat.
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