Longtime Groover Labs members Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall, cofounders of WorkTorch, recently announced a $2.2M seed round and rebrand (formerly QuickHire). Deborah and Angela, as well as Caleb and Bill, have played an integral role in our community.
We grabbed a few minutes of their time to ask about the raise and the rebrand. Read the interview below:
You all have been busy. First, you've raised another $2.2 million, which brings your total fundraising to more than $4 million over the past three years. And, then, you recently announced a rebrand. When was the last time you slept?
Ha! Probably 2019, but I think that's the case for everyone, right? But seriously, it has been a crazy few years, but it has been fun.
Tenzing Capital led the seed round. How did you get in front of them? How does it feel to work with a Wichita-based venture capital firm that invested and led the round?
One of the best things about working with our local investors is that there aren't too many barriers to get in front of them. Once you know who the players are, they are very open to meeting - even if it's via a cold email. Josh Oeding at Tenzing Capital represents all that's right with Wichita. He truly wants to see us, and more Wichita startups, win. So much so that he was willing to put his own dollars in to support us.
You've spoken at different events around Wichita and in the Midwest, and you've participated in a few local startup-focused workshops: have these helped shape or reshape your vision as you grow?
I don't think these events have impacted our vision too much, but they've definitely helped us gain more supporters along the way. Additionally, it's extremely important to us that we help grow the startup ecosystem in Wichita. This is going to take us partnering with other stakeholders in the community and bringing awareness to what we're doing.
What is one of the most important things you've learned while participating in these or other entrepreneurial system workshops?
That we all have a role to play in getting Wichita on the map. It's easy to say "oh, they don't need me at this event" or "they can get it done without me," but it's this very mindset that's keeping Wichita from being the innovation hub it can be.
Tell us more about the rebrand from QuickHire to WorkTorch. There are plenty of reasons to rebrand: a change in strategy, an expansion in markets, a different approach to connecting with customers, newer features outstrip older features, etc. Walk us through your thinking.
We've always had the vision of being a long-term talent solution - meaning we've wanted to help post hire. However, we knew we had to first be good at efficiently getting people into the right job before we did anything else. Hence the name QuickHire. We are now focused on what's happening to people after being hired and are wanting to help people develop and employers retain. Therefore, we wanted to move away from a name that feels transactional.
Knowing what you know now, would you still have started as QuickHire, or would you have started as WorkTorch? (Did it take QuickHire to get to WorkTorch?)
Great question. We wouldn't change anything about the path we've taken, including the name. QuickHire helped us get to this point. Many companies found us, took a chance on us and are still with us because they needed a fast solution to their hiring needs. We wouldn't have many of our customers today had we not first earned their trust as QuickHire.
Our co-founder and executive director Curt Gridley has been known to say that not only do VCs bring the money, they also bring their contacts. Has this been true for you?
100%. Our second largest customer came from an investor introduction. Also, the last tranche of our seed round came from existing investor introductions. And those are just two of many examples.
How much symbolism went into the rebranded name and logo? There's a hand holding a torch. Hands across cultures symbolize work or tools of work. And the torch reminds us of something . . . a symbol . . . a national symbol . . . a national symbol that lights the path . . . a national symbol that lights the path to liberty . . . the torch on the Statue of Liberty. Was this deliberate, or are we reading too much into it?
Some of this was intentional. We definitely wanted something that symbolizes being a guide. We don't believe in doing the work for the job seeker or employer. We see our platform as a guide toward a better career and a better workforce. So that's where the torch came from. We wanted to still have something related to people/hiring so that people had an idea of what our platform is. Hence the word Work. We also chose WorkTorch because it's also a flashlight, another guiding light symbol.
You've been with Groover Labs for over two years. Other than your office, what's big the biggest benefit?
This interview is an example of the immense support we've received from our Groover Labs family. You all celebrate the wins with us and strategize with us during the rough patches. It's also nice to be part of an established community from which our employees can benefit from. From the events to member lunches, Groover Labs makes being a startup a little bit easier!