自动化雇员背景调查公司Checkr完成900万美元融资
旨在以API和交互界面的方式自动化、批量式地向企业提供新员工背景调查的Checkr刚刚完成了一笔900万美元融资。
Checkr目前已有约50个客户，主要是一些需要弹性雇佣自由劳动力的公司，比如同城物流服务商Instacart，以及家政O2O公司Homejoy等。
该公司在今年8月份的YC开放日上博得了Aceel Partners的关注，Aceel也成为本轮融资的领投方。
按需经济（on-demand economy）呈爆炸式增长，使得消费者通过自己的手机就能享受到各种各样的商品或服务。不过所有这些需要招聘承包人运送乘客、交付货物、或者打扫房间的新兴公司都需要做员工的背景调查，Checkr希望能助他们一臂之力。
如今在新资金的帮助下，Checkr将会以更好的状态为这些按需公司提供服务。该公司获得的900万美元融资由Accel Partners领投，Accel Partners合伙人里奇·王（Rich Wong）加入该公司董事会。参与投资的还有Khosla Ventures，SVAngel，Data Collective，Google Ventures，鲍比·雅齐达尼（Bobby Yazdani），埃拉德·吉尔（Elad Gil），韦斯利·陈（Wesley Chan），斯科特·班尼斯特（Scott Banister），约书亚·沙克特（Joshua Schachter），大卫·斯佩克特（David Spector），保罗·布克海特（Paul Buchheit），凯文·黑尔（Kevin Hale），卡萨尔·尤尼斯（Qasar Younis），伊利亚·苏克哈（Ilya Sukhar）以及迪克昂·伯恩斯坦（Tikhon Bernstam）。
Checkr提供的服务能够让大部分为人工操作的背景调查流程得到简化，从而更加简便地集成到公司原有的入职流程中。在Checkr平台上，各家公司能够通过在线表单或者在招聘系统中整合Checkr的API完成对新员工的审核。
该公司提供一系列的背景调查，包括验证社保号码，检查住址历史，是否有性侵历史，是否在恐怖分子监控名单或者国家犯罪数据库中。额外缴费的话，它还能提供驾驶记录的背景调查。
在电话中，王表示Accel之所以对Checkr产生兴趣，是因为他们能够为这个数十年没有太大进步的行业提供一个API。由此他将Checkr与支付处理公司Braintree相提并论，Braintree在被PayPal收购之前也曾是Accel投资的一家公司。
按需经济的快速扩张导致对Checkr服务需求的迅猛上涨。该公司员工仅有4位，已经和50多家企业客户签约，其中包括Homejoy，iCracked，Instacart以及Doordash。王指出，通过部署先进的API，Checkr能够扩张到非常庞大的规模，靠人工客户支持是完全无法实现的。
Checkr的客户目前每月发送约10000条调查请求，7月份我们最近一次报道Checkr时这一数字约为2000。据联合创始人丹尼尔·雅尼斯（Daniel Yanisse）称，这一增长部分源自新增客户，部分源自原先主要客户的团队扩张。
当然，不排除“按需经济”有过于夸大、投资过热的可能。雅尼斯表示，如果出现宏观经济放缓，人们不愿意付钱找人取脏衣服清洗的情况，融资资金将会给他们提供一定的缓冲。与此同时，该公司正在想方设法集成到更多新兴公司的招聘系统中。
另外据王所说，Checkr也表现出对所谓的“共享经济”（sharing economy）的兴趣。“客户开始尝试新兴业务。”他说道。
这将为该公司带来更为广阔的机遇：毕竟美国大约三分之一的劳动力都是自由职业者或是临时工，依赖承包人的公司的数量将会持续增长。随着这些业务向新的地区不断扩张，Checkr的业务也会一同扩张。
Checkr.Inc., a startup that expedites background checks on new hires and delivers them in bulk to businesses, has secured $9 million to expand.
The company wants to overhaul what has been a time-consuming process by delivering reports as an API, or application programming interface, which automatically runs checks and connects to companies’ hiring systems. Checkr competes against the likes of Sterling Infosystems Inc. and newer startups including GoodHire Inc. and BeenVerified Inc.
Among Checkr’s 50 or so customers using the API to more quickly mobilize armies of freelance workers are on-demand companies like home delivery startup Instacart Inc., cleaning service Homejoy Inc. and onsite screen repair company iCracked Inc.
The company caught the attention of Accel Partners at Y Combinator’s Demo Day in August.
“It’s a combination of the $4 billion [background check] market and the right technology approach,” said Accel Partners Partner Rich Wong, who led the Series A round. “I’d say 70% or so of the companies we invest in these days are all about software reducing inefficiencies and cutting expenses. Big data is finding patterns in things that humans can’t.”
Mr. Wong said he also liked Checkr’s approach: Like online payment company Stripe Inc. and communications startup Twilio Inc., Checkr delivers reports in the form of an API, which automates the process and becomes part of the customer’s workflow.
Co-founded by Daniel Yanisse and Jonathan Perichon in April, Checkr pulls information about individuals from public and private data sources and delivers results to employers in two days or less. The startup, which employs just four, gathers information from driving records, courts, sex offender sites, terrorist watch lists and other sources. Checkr’s software then cleans the data to make it compliant with each state’s privacy regulations and eliminates items like arrests that didn’t lead to convictions or offenses that occurred more than seven years ago.
Each reports costs $25 or $35, depending on how detailed it is.
“We’re going to use this round to hire the most talented engineers we can,” Mr. Yanisse said. “We believe in engineers. We will use them to automate marketing and sales. We want to use them to build all the tools we can to scale the business.”
Mr. Yanisse said he is pleased with Checkr’s growth–the startup now does more than 500 reports a day–and is focused next on U.S. expansion.
International growth will be harder, he said.
“The privacy laws are a lot harder in Europe,” he said. “The biggest challenge is international.”
Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Data Collective and Google Ventures also participated in the round along with private investors including Bobby Yazdani, Elad Gil, Wesley Chan, Scott Banister, Joshua Schachter, David Spector, Paul Bucheit, Kevin Hale, Qasar Younis, Ilya Sukhar and Tikhon Bernstam.
Mr. Wong joins the board.
Write to Lizette Chapman at lizette.chapman@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @zettewil
SOURCE: K815
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