Service industry career platform WorkTorch raises $2.2m additional funding and rebrand from QuickHire

WorkTorch, a fast-growing service industry career platform, announced a $2.2 million seed round, led by Tenzing Capital out of Wichita, Kansas. This funding investment comes as October employment numbers show people are leaving their careers faster than new hires are coming in the door.

Recently, the company rebranded from QuickHire to WorkTorch to highlight its new capabilities, including cutting-edge recruiting and retention tools for hiring managers and career resources for service-industry professionals. This new influx of funding will help WorkTorch launch  in several new cities desperate for service industry employees – including Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia.

WorkTorch currently has a roster of over 40,000 service industry applicants  actively looking for jobs. To date, 1 in every 3 WorkTorch applicants finds a role – and stays three times longer than the average employee in the U.S. In the near future, WorkTorch plans to add skilled-labor verticals to its platform.

Since launching in April 2021, the WorkTorch platform use has grown exponentially – with upwards of 1,000 scheduled interviews a month. Today, WorkTorch has more than 60 paying corporate clients (from mid-size to national service companies like Dunkin' Donuts and Homewood Suites by Hilton) who use the platform to fill open positions across the country.

WorkTorch is led by two African American sisters – Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall. This growing company – with now over $4 million in total funding – makes Gladney and Muhwezi-Hall two of the very few black women to raise significant VC funds. In 2021, U.S. startups raised $329.9 billion, but black women received less than 0.35 percent of that amount (according to research firm jdsupra.com).

Deborah Gladney, Co-founder and CEO, WorkTorch: "WorkTorch is growing because we empower both sides of the employment spectrum – the career seeker and the hiring company. We connect service industry professionals to the careers they want, as well as provide company support to ensure that their new employees feel empowered and nurtured," says Gladney. "Our country relies on skilled service workers, but existing career platforms continue to overlook them. WorkTorch is listening to the people in this sector. And it's working. Today 60% of WorkTorch job seekers are happy with their jobs. The industry 'happiness' average is a mere 30%," adds Muhwezi-Hall.

Josh Oeding, Founder and General Partner, Tenzing Capital: "Our focus at Tenzing Capital is finding and supporting go-to-market acceleration companies. This is our second time investing in WorkTorch. The WorkTorch team is taking on internal growth and operational challenges with high levels of excellence -- and creating long-term business client relationships that bring value to this needed space."

This funding round includes participation from existing investors MATH Venture Partners, Sandalphon Capital, KCRise Fund, Sixty8 Capital, Ruthless for Good Fund (RFG Fund), Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and angel investor Gene Camarena, with new investments from Bloomberg Beta, Graham & Walker Venture Fund, GROWKS, New Community Transformation Fund - Denver, Mid America Angels and Women's Capital Connection Network, and angel investor Jennifer Risher.

WorkTorch.com, is free for job seekers. Business plans start at $199 a month per job listing. All tiered payment options include job postings, candidate screenings, scheduling features, candidate matching, talent management tools, and more. WorkTorch is currently based in Wichita, Kansas.

www.worktorch.io