Trade Hounds, a Boston startup created to support tradespeople, announced Friday it closed on a $3.2 million seed funding round and will be launching a new jobs site, with the goal of becoming “the LinkedIn of the construction industry.”
Founded in 2016 by Australian native David Broomhead and local entrepreneur Peter Maglathlin, Trade Hounds aims to provide a space where tradespeople can show off their work and network with each other. This summer, the platform will also be a place where these workers can find employment opportunities, something Broomhead says is much needed in this industry.
“Electricians, plumbers, carpenters — workers across the skilled trades — prefer to ‘show’ their work through photos versus ‘tell’ about in writing. This is why existing professional platforms simply don’t work for this demographic,” Broomhead said in a statement. “It’s always bothered me that tradespeople — the skilled workers who build our hospitals, schools and infrastructure — don’t have access to a technology platform that meets their professional needs. We’ve set out to change this with Trade Hounds.”
To date, the company has raised nearly $5 million and claims to have accumulated about 150,000 registered users since its mobile app launched last year. This, Maglathlin says, puts Trade Hounds in a good position to improve this $1.3 trillion industry.
“Vertical labor marketplaces are the future because they provide a user experience that is tailored to specific needs of one industry. Construction is a massive industry, but it’s also very unique, therefore it requires a unique solution,” Maglathlin said in a statement. “Now more than ever, as the industry has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a platform like Trade Hounds is critically important to helping the industry get back to work.”
Maglathlin told Built In via email that the company plans to use some of this $3.2 million to make about 10 new hires, focusing mainly on its engineering and technical teams. It will also use the money to expand its user base and build its jobs platform.
