One of the biggest issues threatening manufacturers is the skills gap between factory workers and the advanced technical skills to operate a modern, smart factory. At the end of October 2019, there were approximately 477K open manufacturing jobs. WorkClout is the performance support and workforce management platform that helps close the skills gap by training industrial employees to master complex front-line tasks. Through phone or tablet, Workclout’s simulator shows workers how to complete each task, providing instantaneous feedback. WorkClout also streamlines communication so that workers can share critical information with each other and management seamlessly. At its core, the platform allows factories to invest in the workers’ sustained development to improve overall efficiency, performance, and also protect the front line from unnecessary and avoidable injuries.
LA TechWatch sat down with cofounders Ryan Trang, Richard Girges, and Arjun Patel to learn more about focusing on industrial performance support, the company’s future expansion plans, and recent seed round. WorkClout, a graduate of Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 class, has now raised a total of $2.5M since its founding in 2018.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Seed round – WorkClout raised $2.3M led by Spider Capital and participation from Y Combinator, Liquid 2, Soma Capital, Pioneer Fund, Mehta Ventures, Magic Fund, Oyster Ventures, Jude Gomila, Kevin Mahaffey, Alan Rutledge, Yuri Sagalov, and more.
Tell us about the product or service that WorkClout offers.
WorkClout is a mobile & web application that helps industrial, blue-collar workers perform better by centralizing corrective & preventive actions, tasks, on-the-job work instructions, skills training, workforce scheduling, and communication.
We want to be the best workforce management and support tool for frontline workers.
Our mission is to enable and empower the industrial workforce to perform at their highest potential and equip CI leaders with tools to modernize industrial labor so processes that are critical to safety, performance, and training are streamlined & centralized.
What inspired the start of WorkClout?
Arjun grew up in his dad’s manufacturing factory, helping it grow into a $50M annual revenue operation, which inspired WorkClout.
As founding members of WorkClout, we noticed a product efficiency problem in Arjun’s father’s factory, and we solved this problem by building software to optimize the factory process.
However, we soon realized that the best method to improve productivity was not to streamline the process but to maximize the employees that execute the process, therefore creating Performance Support in the process.
How is WorkClout different?
The time to value is shorter than anything out there, our connected worker platform also takes into consideration workforce load management, whereas competitors just focus on qualitative aspects not quantitative.
What market are you targeting and how big is it?
Around 80% of the global workforce is deskless, which includes the 2.7 billion workers worldwide in industries such as Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, Retail, Hospitality, Manufacturing, Transportation, and Construction.
Who do you consider to be your primary competitors?
Poka, Reverscore, Dozuki
What’s your business model?
Price per user, SaaS subscription.
What was the funding process like?
When you have domain experience, conviction around your mission, and a great team, investors are open to a conversation. It was stressful, but all our investors made the process more seamless.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
One of the biggest challenges was sequencing meetings and reading an investor’s interest.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
The market, the traction we had, and I would like to think team!
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
COVID-19 put a dent in any accurate revenue projections. As of now, the main milestone we want to reach is helping 100 manufacturers with business continuity and operational recovery for post-COVID-19.
Ultimately, we want to make sure that we’re making an impact and aiding frontline workers during this difficult time.
COVID-19 put a dent in any accurate revenue projections. As of now, the main milestone we want to reach is helping 100 manufacturers with business continuity and operational recovery for post-COVID-19.
What advice can you offer companies in Los Angeles that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Focus on building a community within your target audience before chasing investment, and test how much value you’re bringing to them even without your product.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We want to be the connected worker platform of choice for front line workers. We are primarily focusing on doubling down on product and community building.
What is your favorite restaurant in LA?
Jon & Vinnys hands down!
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