Funding accelerates urgent need for income optimization and worker benefits for hourly and gig workers facing massive income challenges

ATLANTA, June 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Steady, a platform solely focused on advising and advocating for workers seeking stable income in America, today announced it has raised an additional $15 million in Series B funding led by Recruit Strategic Partners, a venture capital arm of Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Additional investors in this round include Flourish Ventures, Loeb Enterprises, Propel Venture Partners and CMFG Ventures.

As part of the funding round, Steady will appoint an additional director to its board from Recruit Strategic Partners.

“With the unfathomable challenges being faced by hourly and gig workers in America today, it is necessary for them to be able to access a platform that provides them with community-based support,” noted Steady CEO Adam Roseman. “Steady’s mission of utilizing the power of our community data to better the outcome for the entire community is more critically important than ever and we are very excited to have the capital to be able to build aggressively to support America’s core workforce.”

Roseman added, “Numerous very disturbing trends have emerged from our data during the current economic crisis, including nearly half of Steady Members with 50% or greater income loss are African American and over 70% of those Steady Members face such dire conditions that they are having to skip meals. We are focused on delivering immediate and measurable economic value to our Members during these unbelievably traumatic times.”

Emmalyn Shaw, Managing Partner of Flourish Ventures said, “Gig and LMI workers are at a critical juncture right now. They’re the backbone of the American economy but they are facing low wages, lack of healthcare and no realistic idea of what the amount of their next paycheck will be. Adam and the rest of the team at Steady have created an app that streamlines the work and financial lives of 2 million gig workers and counting, providing the support they need to navigate these challenging times. We’re honored to be a part of Steady’s efforts.”

Funds from this round will be used to fund accelerated growth to support America’s workforce and grow its U.S. based data, product and technical operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerates Steady’s mission, which is to improve the increasingly challenging lives of American hourly and gig workers. Workers using the Steady platform can track their income, receive personalized income insights, receive guidance on relevant work opportunities, get paid to improve their financial health and receive access to benefits relevant to hourly and gig workers, such as Steady’s new telemedicine support.

Before the current economic crisis began, there were approximately 53 million low-wage-earning Americans making an average of $10.25 per hour. While it's above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, it’s below what's considered the living wage for many regions. Some 40% of all Americans reported grappling with an unexpected $400 expense last year.

As part of its commitment to workers in the COVID-19 era, Steady has been nimble in anticipating and adjusting to the shifting sands of the economy in recent weeks:

• In April, along with support from ambassador/investor Shaquille O'Neal launched a new targeted initiative, Steady Together, to help workers quickly find high demand jobs, earn cash grants and provide telehealth medical support. $2 million has been distributed in emergency cash grants thus far to Steady Members who have exhibited income loss. This included an introduction to the program via Instagram Live and Zoom that can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/trB-WZsQgqk.
• In May, Steady announced that it is providing free telemedicine subscriptions to its Members through at least August 1 to tackle a major pain point of its uninsured and underinsured Members.
• Steady has been providing regular worker trend data from a cohort of its nearly 2 million members who have linked their bank accounts through the Steady platform. This data has been invaluable in providing a more complete picture of hourly and gig worker employment trends.
• In February, Steady appointed Winn Martin as its Chief Data Officer. Martin joined Steady from Kabbage, where he was their Head of Data Insights.

About Steady

Launched in 2018, Steady puts tools into the hands of American workers to help them solve their increasing income challenges caused by massive challenges due to the impact of COVID-19, wages not keeping up with costs of living, the reduction of available work hours at employers due to their driving efficiencies, and future job loss due to automation. Steady makes it easier than ever for workers to fill their income gaps, gain insights that help increase earnings, and improve their overall financial well-being. To date, the Steady app has been downloaded more than 2.7 million times.

The Steady app can be downloaded for free from the App Store and Google Play. Employers interested in partnering with Steady can contact Steady at [email protected].

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