Startups looking to capitalize on the growing popularity of gig work are gaining increasing attention from investors. Among them is Jyve, which is focused on the retail sector where it connects workers to stores and brands needing people for tasks such as restocking shelves and setting up displays inside grocery stores. What sets Jyve apart from its rivals is that it pays workers per job rather than by the hour.
"We guarantee what we're going to pay you. You decide how much you make an hour," said Brad Oberwager, Jyve's CEO and a co-founder of the San Francisco-based company. "We're going to pay you $100. You can do that in two hours, or you can do that in 10 hours."
Staffing agencies have been around for years, but what is different now is the rise of on-demand agencies focused on specific industries, ranging from retail to hospitality, warehousing and customer service. They are drawing interest from businesses eager for help in finding workers in a tight labor market.
Instawork, which finds workers for hospitality gigs such as dishwashing and bartending, announced in February that it raised $10 million from firms including Benchmark and Y Combinator. Last year, IAC acquired BlueCrew, an on-demand staffing app that brings on its workers as W-2 employees and connects them to long- and short-term work. Jyve has raised about $35 million, mostly from a Series A round announced earlier this year.
Jyve's customers include both retailers and consumer goods makers that have products in grocery stores. Many products on supermarket shelves are typically restocked by the consumer packaged goods companies rather than by store employees. With a number of stores now fulfilling online grocery orders from stores, maintaining inventory is more challenging. Jyve, which was founded in 2015, connects stores or the brands with contractors who can make sure shelves are restocked.
"You have to replenish that shelf four times a day," Mr. Oberwager said.
Company: Jyve
Founders: Brad Oberwager, Cammy Bergren, James Kairos, Sam Purtill
Investors: SignalFire, Ridge Ventures, CrossCut Ventures, NEA, Kortschak Investments, FJ Labs, Boldstart Ventures
Total Funding: $35 million
Headquarters: San Francisco
What Sets It Apart: CEO Brad Oberwager said the company aspires to be "the highest-paying gig employer in the country. …I want to be able to pay health insurance, but my lawyers would kill me," he adds. "We can't pay your health insurance, but we're going to pay you enough money to get it on your own."
Jyve has signed eight contracts with companies needing temporary help, covering about 4,000 stores across the country. It has about 7,500 "Jyvers" on its platform, though only about 2,200 of them are active, meaning they completed a job in the last month. The company also is planning a partnership with DoorDash around grocery delivery, though further details couldn't be learned. The company declined to provide revenue figures.
The new crop of on-demand staffing agencies like Jyve face a potential complication, as California considers legislation that would classify gig workers as employees rather than contractors. The proposal is mainly directed at ride-hailing companies, but also could affect businesses like Jyve, labor experts said. Uber and Lyft have launched an effort to fight the bill, which is set to go before the state Senate later this year.
"If California does move forward with this, there is a decent chance at least some other states will follow suit," said Chris Tilly, who studies labor markets and public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. That could be a threat to Jyve's business model, which is "coming of age in a different regulatory environment at least in California and potentially in other states in years to come."
Asked about the potential legislative threat, Jyve's Mr. Oberwager pointed to a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling last month that said Uber drivers are contractors, not employees, and said the company complies with labor laws.
Jyve and other companies who connect contractors to employers say that workers appreciate the flexibility of choosing when and how much to work.
Mr. Oberwager said the company has created a "transparent environment" in which employees can clearly see how much they will earn doing a task and where that job is located. "Our system allows Jyvers the flexibility to take on as little or as many Jyves as they wish at the pace they decide," he said.
