Qwick, a fast-growing, on-demand staffing app for restaurants, has raised $40 million.
The Series B round was led by Tritium Partners and included existing investors. It comes as the restaurant industry remains about 500,000 jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.
Qwick is like Uber but for restaurant staffing. Restaurants can post a shift they need to fill and a contractor from Qwick’s network can accept it within seconds. The restaurant sets hourly pay and pays Qwick 40% of that in exchange for making the connection.
“Staffing-as-a-service is the future of work in the hospitality industry,” said Qwick Co-Founder and CEO Jamie Baxter in a statement. “We’re excited by Tritium’s conviction in Qwick and belief in our mission to end understaffing.”
Founded in 2017, the Phoenix-based company grew astronomically during the pandemic: Revenue is up more than 10,000% over the past three years. In 2022, Qwick expanded to 23 markets from 13, more than doubled its network of hospitality partners and grew its worker pool by nearly 70%.
It will look to accelerate that growth with the new funding. That will include deepening its ties to existing markets and adding new ones as well as building out its headquarters staff, the company said.
“Qwick’s impressive growth and history of achieving success through its innovative hospitality solution, even through an especially challenging few years for the industry, indicate that the company has truly changed the way people work,” said Tritium Managing Partner David Lack in a statement.
Despite improvements, staffing remains a major challenge for restaurants. A report published last week by Datassential revealed that U.S. restaurants have cut hours by an average of 6.5 hours per week since 2019, in part because of staffing shortfalls.
It’s no surprise that technology that promises to address those shortages has been hot amid an otherwise muted year for restaurant tech. 7Shifts raised $80 million this year for its restaurant labor software and BiteNinja raised $10 million for its remote staffing system. A number of robotics companies have also landed investments.
Qwick’s latest round builds upon a $10 million Series A in June 2021.
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