ToolBelt, Inc., a construction technology company, recently announced in a news release it has raised $2.5 million in a Series Seed 2 round led by HR Tech Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd., and an affiliate of Indeed. Also participating in the round was Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest building materials companies and manufacturer of innovative material solutions, as well as Elevate Capital and Cascade Seed Fund.
ToolBelt, headed by CEO Josh Engelbrecht and CTO Ross Barbieri, is turning heads with its ability to address the labor shortage in the construction industry. ToolBelt helps builders and general contractors find skilled labor rapidly. Whether highly skilled or general labor, subcontracting crews or full-time employees, ToolBelt’s SaaS platform helps skilled labor get hired onto job sites quicker than ever.
“Our mission is to connect the construction industry’s labor in order to increase production capacity for all,” Engelbrecht said. “Our team has built a simple solution to an everyday problem the industry faces. We are excited for expansion.”
With the residential construction boom showing no end in sight, labor shortages continue to be the biggest issue plaguing contractors, large and small. The ability to access a pool of qualified applicants with the touch of a button on the ToolBelt app is appealing to contractors trying to increase their production capacity, stay ahead of schedule and keep under budget. ToolBelt’s impressive performance, strong use and growing ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest is what drew HR Tech Investments to invest in the fast-adopting platform.
“As a leading supplier of building materials, Saint-Gobain understands the challenge of finding quality, skilled workers in the construction industry,” said Minas Apelian, vice president, External and Internal Venturing, Saint-Gobain. “With our investment in ToolBelt, we can help contractors fill the employment gap and help tradespeople find employment opportunities to boost overall efficiency and productivity in the construction sector. We are happy to support ToolBelt in expanding their footprint.”
ToolBelt’s innovation in the construction industry has been recognized by the technology community. In 2020, the company won awards from the Technology Association of Oregon and was named the CREATE Category winner by the Oregon Entrepreneurship Network.
Read the VBJ’s full 2019 article on the launch of the ToolBelt app here.
