Workforce management platform 7Shifts announced this week it has raised a $21.5 million Series B round. Enlightened Hospitality Investments, the growth equity fund affiliated with Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, led the round. Existing investors Ten Coves Capital, Relay Ventures, and Conexus Ventures also participated in the round.
Saskatoon, Canada-based 7Shifts said it will use the new funds to expand both the size of its team and the products it offers as part of its labor-management software stack. Currently, products include tools for scheduling, time clocking, communication, and keeping managers in sync with one another, among other features. The company’s promise to restaurants is that its software simplifies the task of managing workers and helps businesses control costs. New funds will go towards expanding the capabilities of its scheduling and communication tools as well as introducing new features.
In this week’s press release, 7Shifts said it is currently experiencing “record onboarding.” While the company cited a general desire by restaurants to control costs as a big reason, the current labor shortage no doubt is also playing a role. Restaurant operators are currently struggling to fill open positions, making it difficult for businesses to manage the masses of people returning to restaurants for dine-in service.
The labor shortage, of course, is a very nuanced situation, and it will take more than software to resolve the bigger issues at stake, like fair wages for workers. Setting those points aside a moment, tools like 7Shifts have the potential to help restaurants control costs and manage the employees they do have more easily while the larger questions remain unresolved.
7Shifts is one of several restaurant tech companies focused either wholly or in part on workforce management. Fourth is the other notable company, while Toast, the Swiss-army knife of restaurant tech, offers features, too.
To date, 7Shifts has raised $51 million, including this week’s round.
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