AROUND THE NETWORK: Building Ventures Leads $5.1M Seed Round for Recruiting Platform Skillit

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Skillit, the recruiting platform for skilled, full-time construction labor, recently announced its $5.1M seed round led by BuiltWorlds Member Building Ventures with participation from MetaProp, HOLT Ventures, Great North Ventures, 1Sharpe Ventures and Takeoff Capital. The platform is already in the hands of select ENR contractors including industry leader Messer Construction. It vets workers with proprietary, trade-specific assessments while collecting hundreds of data points to create the first rich, taxonomized view of skilled construction labor across the entire employee lifecycle. The result is a single platform for sourcing, skills assessment, hiring, training, evaluation and win-back that meaningfully improves workforce ROI for contractors facing record labor shortages.

The Skillit team has direct experience not only in construction and skilled labor but also in the digitization of greenfield categories. The platform provides leading ENR contractors with vetted candidate profiles, custom matching, automated workflows and data-driven compensation and labor market insights. The hiring experience for both contractor and worker is smoother, quicker and more successful as a result.

Potential for the platform’s application in the unionized sector was discussed with leading union contractors earlier this month at The Association of Union Constructors’ (TAUC) annual State of the Union event. TAUC CEO Daniel Hogan remarked that “TAUC and its contractor members have positioned themselves at the forefront of innovation and technology and are encouraged to explore Skillit’s promising value proposition, especially as it relates to improved craftperson metrics.” TAUC represents 1,800 union contractors and has worked with Building Ventures to uncover select technology firms and innovative entrepreneurs that have the potential to revolutionize the construction and maintenance industry.

“Skillit is solving the single greatest challenge facing builders today: the hiring and retention of skilled craft workers. When we met Fraser, we were impressed not only by his passion for solving construction’s labor problem, but also by his conviction that technology and data can empower hiring managers and employees alike,” said Building Ventures Co-Founder and General Partner Jesse Devitte. “We have already witnessed genuine excitement for Skillit from many of our general contractor partners, and we’re excited about the future. With the seed round, Fraser and the Skillit team will open new regional markets, refine the product offering with real customer usage and feedback, and ultimately move the recruitment and retention of skilled labor into the 21st century.”

We will be talking about all things Venture-related and more at our upcoming Venture West Conference in San Francisco, CA on March 20-22, 2023. BuiltWorlds Venture Conference has been the world’s premier conference focused on venture investing in construction and built environment-related emerging technology. Leading fund investors, strategic investors, and startups gather each year to take the pulse of the industry’s startup ecosystem at the BuiltWorlds Venture Conference. Hope to see you there!

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BuiltWorlds is the buildings and infrastructure industry’s leading professional network for open innovation, keeping companies in the worlds of engineering, construction and related fields informed and connected, and helping them find avenues to collaborate for their own strategic success and for the betterment of the industry, as whole. For more information about BuiltWorlds, visit the BuiltWorlds Network  or sign up for the BuiltWorlds Newsletter to stay connected to the Community for free.