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In March 2020, Sami Bouremoum and Michael Ginzo, two tech entrepreneurs with a background in consulting (Bouremoum labored for Bain & Firm) and software program growth (Ginzo led product at hiring startup Deel), got here collectively to co-launch Hofy, an organization that delivers workplace gear to distant hires. It wasn’t lengthy after that Hofy started incomes “low-six-figure” income, Bouremoum claims, because the pandemic compelled staff around the globe to transition to work-from-home setups.
Greater than two years later, buyers nonetheless imagine in Hofy’s mission, evidently. The corporate right this moment closed a $15 million Collection B spherical led by CNP with participation from Stride, 20VC, Day One Ventures, Kindred Capital, Activum and TrueSight, bringing Hofy’s complete raised to $30.2 million. Bouremoum tells TechCrunch that the recent money can be used to develop Hofy’s service to extra nations whereas rising its suite of IT companies.
“We wouldn’t exist with out the pandemic and customarily it accelerated distant work by 20 years, which created an enormous market alternative for this answer. Proper now, our progress comes from our present clients hiring extra staff,” Bouremoum advised TechCrunch in an e mail interview. “Initially, Hofy was going to boost a bigger spherical in early 2022, however since then, we’ve constructed a enterprise that’s money circulate optimistic and doesn’t require big quantities of VC {dollars} to scale. This manner, we don’t dilute present buyers and staff.”
Hofy, which initially solely serviced clients within the U.Ok. however is now out there in 110 nations, handles gear orders and shipments for company purchasers. As soon as built-in with an HR system, Hofy can be utilized to set guidelines like budgets and utilization insurance policies. New hires invited to the platform can order their gear — whether or not laptops, screens or equipment — forward of begin dates.
Picture Credit: Hofy
To clients, Hofy delivers assist, together with loaner units within the occasion gear wants repairs. The platform handles offboarding, as properly, letting admins remotely wipe units pre-collection.
“On common, firms spend 3.5 hours to equip a brand new rent,” Bouremoum stated. “Hofy gear is rented, reworking upfront capital expenditures right into a manageable operational expense that’s tightly aligned with the dynamic nature of startup hiring and turnover. Prospects wish to be certain that each crew member has entry to a productive, compliant distant work setup, wherever they’re on the planet … Hofy [can] natively combine right into a stack of instruments and assist employers rent and handle the worker lifecycle globally.”
Past this, Hofy offers an API that enables HR distributors to supply {hardware} supply and restoration as a managed service. One of many startup’s first integration companions is Deel, Ginzo’s previous employer, which can allow clients to make use of Hofy by way of the Deel platform to purchase and ship gear.
“Think about having the ability to not solely handle a brand new joiner’s digital onboarding journey on Workday, but additionally bodily getting their gear to them with out having to go away Workday,” Bouremoum continued. “That is the kind of software our API permits.”
Hofy competes with Fleet, which lately raised $20 million for its service that helps monitor and handle enterprise units like laptops. Allwhere is one other rival — it’s a consultancy that works with firms to implement distant work setups, together with managing the lifecycle of kit.
Maybe the bigger, extra existential menace to Hofy is the shifting attitudes round distant work. Whereas staff declare that working from residence has made them extra productive — and saved them cash — many managers are skeptical, presenting an apparent menace to distant gear administration startups like Hofy. In a current research by Microsoft, 85% of bosses stated that hybrid work makes it more durable to be assured staff are being productive. Those self same bosses are strongly encouraging staffers to return to the workplace. Based on Kastle Techniques, a safety agency, workplace occupancy hit a pandemic excessive earlier this month, with 10 of the nation’s high metro areas seeing a mean of 47.5% of staff swiping into places of work in contrast with pre-pandemic ranges.
If Bouremoum has issues, he didn’t categorical them.
“We made the choice early in 2022 to maneuver to a money circulate optimistic working mannequin, which we’ve been in a position to do extra rapidly than we initially deliberate,” he stated, whereas declining to reveal income numbers. “We’ve got a robust product in a big and rising market, so we’re not involved about weathering the headwinds, particularly with this current funding spherical.”
London-based Hofy plans to develop its crew from 95 staff to 120 by the top of the yr.
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