Trade Hounds raises $3.2M for jobs platform

BOSTON – Trade Hounds has closed its $3.2 million seed funding round. The round was led by venture capital firms Corigin Ventures and Brick and Mortar Ventures. Investors in the round include Suffolk Construction and CCS Construction Staffing.

In conjunction with the funding, Trade Hounds announced plans to launch a Jobs platform this summer that links qualified tradespeople with construction companies and staffing firms.

"Construction is an opaque industry based on tribal knowledge with a language of its own,” said Darren Bechtel, managing Ddrector of Brick & Mortar Ventures. “Therefore, it is not surprising that mainstream technology platforms have failed to serve as a forum for this unique demographic. Men and women working across the various construction trades now have a digital home on Trade Hounds – a place where they are understood and recognized by their peers in the trades."

Ryan Freedman, general partner of Corigin Ventures added “the construction industry remains one of the final frontiers in technology, and to date, most of the innovations that have been introduced to support this space focus on the jobs rather than the people. Trade Hounds’ technology is specifically designed to enhance the lives and advance the careers of skilled tradespeople, as well as support the businesses operating in this massive and important industry.”

Trade Hounds plans to use the funds from the seed round to continue to expand the user base, roll out the Jobs platform and expand the team. The Trade Hounds engineering team is led by Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Clark.

David Broomhead, co-founder and CEO of Trade Hounds said “It’s always bothered me that tradespeople – the skilled workers who build our hospitals, schools and infrastructure – don’t have access to a technology platform that meets their professional needs. We’ve set out to change this with Trade Hounds. We are proud to be the largest digital platform that aims to unite and empower the millions of proud, hard-hat-wearing workers who are building the world around us.

“Electricians, plumbers, carpenters – workers across the skilled trades – prefer to ‘show’ their work through photos versus ‘tell’ about in writing.  This is why existing professional platforms simply don’t work for this demographic,” he added.

Trade Hounds has grown since the mobile app launched in 2019 and now has more than 150,000 registered users. For companies and staffing agencies, Trade Hounds shortens the search and hiring process by bringing together qualified job candidates.

“Vertical labor marketplaces are the future because they provide a user experience that is tailored to the specific needs of one industry. Construction is a massive industry, but it’s also very unique, therefore it requires a unique solution,” said co-founder and CFO Peter Maglathlin. “Now more than ever, as the industry has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a platform like Trade Hounds is critically important to helping the industry get back to work.”