Two young San Francisco companies on Wednesday announced fundraisings to bolster their online services aimed at improving workforce efficiency.
—Skedulo, which helps managers schedule assignments for field service personnel, says it raised $28 million in a Series B funding round led by M12, Microsoft’s corporate venture arm. Joining in the round were previous investors Blackbird, a venture capital firm based near Sydney, Australia, and Palo Alto, CA-based Costanoa Ventures. M12 principal Priya Saiprasad will be joining Skedulo’s board of directors. The new capital brings Skedulo’s fundraising total to $40.5 million.
Customers use Skedulo’s mobile and Web applications to dispatch staffers to work sites with the resources they need to carry out their assignments. For example, Skedulo says commercial security company Area Wide Protective (AWP) of North Canton, OH uses the apps to send out workers and equipment to control traffic flow around construction sites, flooded roads, and environmental spills. AWP combines Skedulo with Salesforce features to manage its mobile workforce.
Managing the schedules of large numbers of “deskless” workers has become “an increasingly complex problem that impacts billions of mobile workers across millions of enterprises worldwide,” Skedulo CEO and co-founder Matt Fairhurst (pictured) said in a a statement announcing the fundraising.
Skedulo, founded in 2013, plans to use its new funding to further develop its software, and increase integrations with other business applications such as payroll systems. The company also intends to more than double its staff size across its offices in San Francisco, Sydney, and Brisbane, Australia. A combined 60 new employees will be added at its two Australia locations.
—Scope AR, founded in 2011, also aims to help managers improve the performance of remote workers. The company offers tools to create digital instructions, enhanced with 3D images and augmented reality technology, for carrying out repairs and other operations in industrial settings.
The company announced Wednesday it raised $9.7 million in a Series A funding round led by Romulus Capital, joined by returning investors SignalFire, Susa Ventures, Haystack, New Stack Ventures, North American Corp., and Angel List. The new money brings Scope AR’s fundraising total to $15.8 million.
Scope AR plans to use its new capital to extend the use of augmented reality tools to help businesses keep complex machinery running. The company makes it possible for managers to provide workers with visual guidance through devices such as the Microsoft HoloLens headset, but says its services can also work with simpler communications tools like smartphones, tablets, and wearables. Scope AR says its customers include Lockheed Martin, Unilever, Boeing, and Toyota.
Krishna Gupta, founder and general partner of Romulus Capital, and SignalFire seed fund managing director Wayne Hu will be joining Scope AR’s board of directors.
Photo courtesy of Skedulo
