MINNEAPOLIS, — Yardstik, a technology company offering screening, verification, and training solutions tailored to gig marketplaces and SaaS platforms, today announced that it raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Grotech Ventures with participation from Great North Ventures and continued funding from existing investors Rally Ventures and Crosslink Capital.
Yardstik has enjoyed early success, in part, due to its platform delivering unique value across two rapidly growing market segments. The gig economy continues to expand, with the number of freelance workers increasing by 38% in 2021, and on-demand service marketplaces find themselves having to adapt quickly. Meanwhile, the software as a service (SaaS) market share grew by 16.3% in 2020 to reach $105.6 billion, inspiring providers to look for opportunities to add value-add services to their platforms in increasingly competitive markets.
“These markets are absolutely ripe for innovation,” said Matt Meents, CEO and Co-founder of Yardstik. “Our customers are on the front lines and recognizing opportunities to do things differently, better, and to redefine the status quo. It’s exciting to play a role in that.”
Yardstik’s modular screening, verification, and training solution sets—combined with its white-labeled integration options and operating models to support customer growth—have gotten the attention of buyers across both of these booming categories. Its customers see an opportunity to create competitive advantages through solutions and services beyond what a traditional background check provider can deliver.
“We were immediately attracted to the concept of modular packages,” said Yardstik customer David Pickerell, Co-founder of Para, a marketplace platform that connects gig workers with employment opportunities. “We’re building a seamless experience for gig workers to find, accept, and manage their gig work all in one place. Our community covers a wide variety of work, with unique screening requirements–rideshare, food delivery, merchandising, etc.—all with different needs. Yardstik allows us to get drivers onboarded to new opportunities very quickly, putting more dollars in pockets. And we like working with people who share our vision for creating better experiences in the gig economy. They’ve been a phenomenal partner for us.”
Yardstik will use this financing to support their rapid growth—from 38 customers in 2020 to 131 customers in 2021—bringing on additional team members, funding continued product development, and evolving their go-to-market strategy.
“We see a wealth of untapped opportunity in this space,” said Lawson DeVries, Managing Partner at Grotech Ventures. “In Yardstik, we see a business that has already demonstrated strong product-market fit and built a powerful framework to scale effectively. We’re excited to join the strong management team and our fellow investors for this next phase of Yardstik’s growth.”