Hourly job-matching startup Landed raises $1.4M

Landed, a startup aiming to improve the hiring process for hourly employers and applicants, officially launches its mobile app today. It is also announced that $ 1.4 million in seed capital has been raised.

Founder and CEO Vivian Wang said the app works by asking applicants to fill out a profile with information like work experience and shift availability, as well as recording videos that answer basic frequently asked interview questions. Artificial intelligence is then used to analyze these responses based on 50 characteristics such as communication skills and body language, and then match them to job offers from employers.

Landed has been in beta testing since March last year – yes, just like how the COVID-19 hit the US. Wang admitted that this was bad news for some of the startup’s potential customers, but said that companies like grocery stores and fast food restaurants needed the product more than ever.

“That’s why we grew steadily through 2020,” she said.

Eventually, Landed allowed these companies to continue hiring without having to conduct large group interviews in person. Beyond health concerns, she said managers are struggling with quick turnarounds in these positions (which Wang saw herself during her time on the Gap, Inc. corporate team) and a hiring process that is usually “just a small part of their job is. “So Landed saves time and automates a large part of the product.

Landed CEO Vivian Wang

Meanwhile, Wang said that it benefits applicants because they can find jobs more easily and quickly, often within a week of creating a profile. She also argued that Landed can enhance existing diversity and inclusion efforts by allowing managers to see a wider pool of candidates, and because AI matching isn’t subject to the same unconscious biases employers may have.

Of course, bias can also be built into AI inadvertently, but when I raised this issue, Wang pointed to Landed’s partnerships with local nonprofits to attract underrepresented candidates, adding, “AI can be scary without human controls available . We work directly with our employers to ensure that the matches we send are the correct ones and that there are calibration periods. “

Landed is free to applicants, while employers are charged a monthly fee. Customers already include Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A and Grocery Outlet franchisees. In fact, Eric Sawyer, owner of Grocery Outlet Ventura, said that he no longer hired one person for every 10 interviews, but rather one person for three interviews with the app.

“My time for planning and conducting interviews has been cut in half by using the Landed app for most of my communications,” he said in a statement.

The new financing was led by Javelin Venture Partners with the participation of Y Combinator, Palm Drive Capital and various angel investors. Wang said this will allow Landed to expand further – the service is currently available in seven subway areas (Northern California, Southern California, Virginia Beach / Chesapeake VA, Phoenix / Scottsdale AZ, Atlanta GA, Reno NV, and Dallas-Fort Worth TX). with the aim of triple that number by the end of the year.

Wang added that she would eventually like to offer other services to other applicants, such as: B. Loans (at a lower rate than payday loan providers) and professional training, making Landed a “lifestyle stability platform” that combines job stability, financial stability and education. Upscaling “for workers.

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