Beekeeper, the leading collaboration platform for the “deskless workforce,” previously closed its Series B in September 2019, led by Thayer Ventures and SwissCanto with participation from other existing investors. Juan Muldoon is assuming an advisor position to help accelerate Beekeeper’s growth in manufacturing, construction, energy and other critical infrastructure verticals.
Focusing on the Deskless Worker
Deskless workers represent more than 80 percent of the global workforce, yet only one percent of enterprise software is directed to solve this group’s needs. Many front-line employees often do not have corporate emails, with limited access to corporate communications, business processes and Information Technology systems. Limited technology toolsets can lead to lost productivity, increased turnover, safety incidents and poor engagement.
Communication platforms for industrial workers haven’t changed much over the last few decades; frequently, work shifts are printed on paper and news is published on physical bulletins. As workspaces and workflows have become increasingly digital in the 21st century, there is great opportunity for improvement in the industrial sector. Field engineers, line workers and construction crews now have an additional “tool” in their “toolbelt”: a supercomputer in their pocket.
A New Tool For the Toolbelt
Deskless workers have largely been left behind their desk-based peers, despite being the lifeblood of industrial companies. Today, tools for dispatching maintenance teams, managing response crews or organizing shifts are often inadequate for distributed workers. Countless teams default to communications channels with limited security, such as texts or messaging applications, potentially exposing internal processes to compliance and legal risks.
Industrial teams are also changing. Utilities, manufactures, and other owners of critical infrastructure are facing aging workforces: team members with extensive asset- or process-specific context are retiring at increasing rates. Unfortunately, as knowledgeable workers retire, their expertise walks out with them. How can we use technology to fill that gap?
Beekeeper enables communication, coordination and knowledge transfer across organizations, from central teams all the way to distributed labor. The company has an easy-to-use, mobile-first platform for onboarding, information sharing, document access, time management, scheduling, and other operational features. With best-in-class adoption rates of more than 90 percent, Beekeeper’s simple platform bridges the gap between field and central operations. Importantly, Beekeeper is built from the ground up with the deskless worker in mind — delivering a one-stop platform that integrates central business and operational applications.
Results by Putting People First
The best companies in our space are customer-centric and have a deep appreciation of industrial users’ unique needs. The Beekeeper team, led by co-founders Cris Grossmann, Dani Sztutwojner, Flavio Pfaffhauser and Andreas Slotosch, built an impressive business by prioritizing user experience. Beekeeper’s cohesive culture of simplicity and openness delivers tangible value. The team’s discipline and focus on results are only dwarfed by their ambition to become the industry’s default platform.
Fueling Growth for the Next Chapter
Beekeeper has already proven value and market fit in the retail and hospitality segments with tremendous momentum and blue-chip client relationships. We believe the company is well positioned to be the collaboration platform of choice for industrial workers. From power plants and field crews to the manufacturing floor, Beekeeper offers knowledge sharing, communications and operations applications across use cases, industries and geographies.
We look forward to helping Beekeeper grow as the reference platform for the deskless workforce. We are excited to fuel the company’s expansion in the energy and industrial ecosystem and proud to welcome the Beekeeper team to the Energize family.
