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Workstream has raised $118.0M across 3 funding rounds.
Key people at Workstream.
Workstream has raised $118.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Workstream delivers an all-in-one platform for HR, payroll, and hiring, specifically tailored for the hourly workforce. Its software streamlines critical human resources functions like applicant tracking, scheduling, and onboarding. This integrated solution simplifies managing hourly employees, automating processes from recruitment to compliance for businesses seeking operational efficiency and effective talent management.
Workstream was founded in 2017 by Desmond Lim, Lei Xu, and Max Wang. The co-founders identified significant inefficiencies local businesses faced in managing hourly staff with disparate systems. Their insight led to building a unified platform addressing fragmented tools and outdated processes, offering a modern solution for hiring, onboarding, and retaining their hourly workers.
The platform serves local businesses and franchise owners relying heavily on hourly employees, particularly in sectors like restaurants. Workstream’s mission is to empower these businesses and their teams to thrive through robust HR technology. The company envisions seamless hourly workforce management, enabling businesses to focus on growth and foster a satisfied, productive workforce.
Key people at Workstream.
Workstream has raised $118.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Workstream's investors include Hans Tung, 20VC, Adverb Ventures, AirAngels, Airtree Ventures, Alt Capital, Buckley Ventures, Byld Ventures, Coalition Operators, Coatue, Earl Grey Capital, Felix Capital.
Workstream is a mobile-first HR platform designed for businesses managing hourly and deskless workforces, streamlining hiring, onboarding, HR, scheduling, engagement, and payroll into a single system.[1][2][6] It serves over 4,900 customers across 30,000+ locations, including quick-service restaurants, caregivers, delivery drivers, and retail, by automating slow processes to hire faster—reducing time to hire by 70% and saving 33 hours monthly on scheduling—while addressing high turnover in a $5.7 billion workforce management market projected to reach $6.8 billion by 2026.[1][2][6] Used by 46 of the top 50 quick-service restaurant brands, Workstream empowers local businesses and 2.7 billion global hourly workers to thrive through purpose-built tools for mobile access, language diversity, and hourly-specific needs like multiple pay rates.[2][5][6]
Founded in 2017, Workstream emerged to tackle the unique challenges of hiring and managing deskless hourly workers, amid trends like the Great Resignation that amplified long-term talent shortages in industries reliant on front-line staff.[1][6] Co-founders Desmond Lim (CEO), Lei Xu (CSO), and Max Wang (CTO) bring expertise from top tech firms; the team draws from Stanford, MIT, Google, Y Combinator, Harvard, Yelp, and others, united by a mission to build technology for the hourly economy.[4][6] Early traction came from focusing on automation over job boards, with pivotal growth through elite backing from Founders Fund (Keith Rabois), BOND (Jay Simons, Mary Meeker), Coatue, CRV, GGV Capital, Basis Set Ventures, Peterson Ventures, and angels like Zoom's Eric Yuan, DoorDash's Tony Xu, and Jay-Z's RocNation.[4][6][7] This support fueled expansion to 4K+ customers and partnerships, like the recent strategic alliance with BE Solutions for restaurant back-office efficiency.[8]
Workstream rides the deskless economy wave, targeting 2.7 billion hourly workers amid persistent shortages in high-turnover sectors like restaurants, retail, and delivery, exacerbated by the Great Resignation and structural mismatches.[1][5][8] Timing aligns with a booming workforce management market and demand for mobile, integrated HR amid siloed legacy systems; it influences the ecosystem by partnering with operators like BE Solutions to cut costs, boost accuracy, and free time for core business—accelerating efficiency in fragmented industries.[1][8] By serving franchise-heavy verticals (e.g., 46/50 top QSRs), it shapes standards for hourly tech, enabling scalability for local businesses while countering admin overload in a labor-constrained environment.[2][6]
Workstream is poised for expansion through deeper integrations, like its BE Solutions partnership, targeting multi-unit operators and further market penetration in restaurants and beyond.[8] Rising automation demands in the $6.8B workforce market, AI-enhanced screening, and global deskless growth will propel it, potentially via new verticals or payroll expansions.[1] Its elite backers and hourly focus position it to dominate, evolving from hiring specialist to full ecosystem enabler—ultimately transforming how 2.7 billion workers are managed, much like it already streamlines high-turnover hiring for thousands today.[5][6][7]
Workstream has raised $118.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $60.0M Series B in September 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2022 | $60.0M Series B | Hans Tung | 20VC, Adverb Ventures, AirAngels, Airtree Ventures, Alt Capital, Buckley Ventures, Byld Ventures, Coalition Operators, Coatue, Earl Grey Capital, Felix Capital, First Round Capital, Global Founders Capital, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Mantis VC, Notable Capital, Not Boring Capital, Outcast Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Saga, Silversmith Capital Partners, Slow Ventures, StartHer, Trust Fund, Volition Capital, Y Combinator, Aaron King, Abhinav Asthana, Adam Blitzer, Akshay Kothari, Allison Pickens (Allison Pickens Ventures), Baron Davis, Barr Moses, Christina Cacioppo, Claire Hughes Johnson, Frederic Kerrest, George Ruan, Julian Shapiro, Louis Beryl, Manik Gupta, Marat Kichikov, Matt Brezina, Max Mullen, Melissa Tan, Mike Volpe, Ron Pragides, Ryan Tedder, Scott Belsky, Siqi Chen, Tyler Willis, Vindi Banga, Andre Iguodala, Arash Ferdowsi, Arielle Zuckerberg, Bracken Darrell, Dawn Dobras, Eric Yuan, Jack Altman, Jim Jensen, Lachy Groom, Mathilde Collin, Oliver J., Basis Set Ventures, BOND, CRV, Founders Fund, Soma Capital, World Innovation Lab |
| Aug 1, 2021 | $48.0M Series B | Bond, Coatue | 20VC, Addition, Adverb Ventures, AirAngels, Airtree Ventures, Alt Capital, American Express Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, ARCH Venture Partners, Arrive, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Basis Set Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, CRV, Daffy, Felix Capital, Fenway Summer, First Round Capital, F-Prime Capital Partners, Great Oaks Venture Capital, David Schenkein, IA Ventures, Indeed.com, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Tiffany Luck, Hans Tung, Not Boring Capital, Outcast Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Peterson Partners, Redbud VC, SciFi VC, Soma Capital, Spark Capital, StartHer, Greg Bettinelli, Vera Equity, Webb Investment Network, Abhinav Asthana, Adam Blitzer, Akshay Kothari, Allison Pickens (Allison Pickens Ventures), Amit Agarwal, Arash Ferdowsi, Barr Moses, Bernard Arnault, Brandon Deer, Charley M, Christina Cacioppo, Claire Hughes Johnson, Frederic Kerrest, Gokul Rajaram, Jacqueline Reses, Jeffrey Wald, Jenna Hannon, Kimberly Vogel, Manik Gupta, Mathilde Collin, Max Mullen, Ron Pragides, Sahin Boydas, Scott Belsky, Shishir Mehrotra, Theresa Johnson, Tony Xu, Zander Lurie, Eric Yuan, Ryan Smith |
| May 1, 2020 | $10.0M Series A | Founders Fund | AirAngels, Alt Capital, Amplify.LA, Andreessen Horowitz, ARCH Venture Partners, Arrive, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Asylum Ventures, AV8 Ventures, Bam Ventures, Basis Set Ventures, B Capital Group, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bond, Bonfire Ventures, Boston Seed Capital, Coatue, Construct Capital, CRV, Daffy, ENIAC Ventures, Fenway Summer, Fika Ventures, First Round Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, F-Prime Capital Partners, FundersClub, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Greycroft, David Schenkein, Highland Capital Partners, IA Ventures, Indeed.com, iNovia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Kohala Ventures, KW Angel Fund, Liquid 2 Ventures, Aaron Jacobson, Tiffany Luck, Norwest Venture Partners, Hans Tung, One Way Ventures, Outcast Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Peterson Partners, Picus Capital, Pitbull Ventures, Rebel Fund, Redbud VC, S28 Capital, Saga, SciFi VC, Scribble Ventures, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Soma Capital, Susa Ventures, SV Angel, Greg Bettinelli, Techstars, Tribe Capital, Trinity Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Vera Equity, XYZ Venture Capital, Y Combinator, Zintinus, Aaron King, Amit Agarwal, Arash Ferdowsi, Ashish Bhatia, Bernard Arnault, Claire Hughes Johnson, Clark Landry, Dan Wright, David Chang, Frederic Kerrest, Gokul Rajaram, Immad Akhund, Jacqueline Reses, Jason Robins, Jeffrey Wald, Jeff Seibert, Jenna Hannon, Joe Caruso, Jon Runyan, Kimberly Vogel, Mathilde Collin, Matt Brezina, Michael Ma, Moshe Lifschitz, Ryan Chan, Sahin Boydas, Shishir Mehrotra, Theresa Johnson, Tony Xu, Trevor Wright, Wayne Chang, Aneel Ranadive, Eric Yuan, Geoff Donaker, Jack Altman, James Harden, Joel Peterson, Joe Montana, Karl Sun, Max Levchin, Miyuki Matsumoto |