Gig economy HR app Utmost raises $11.2 million from Greylock, others

By Jane Lanhee Lee

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Contractor pay and benefits app maker Utmost said on Tuesday it raised $11.2 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Greylock Partners, the latest sign of Silicon Valley’s interest in building management tools for the gig economy.

Utmost’s new product comes as the number of contract workers grows in corporate America, including Uber Technologies Inc (N:) and Lyft Inc (O:). Last week Uber launched Uber Works, a platform that helps connect workers with businesses that need to fill shifts.

The Utmost platform currently focuses on helping large companies manage contract workers. The app helps facilitate several human resources (HR) services, such as on-boarding, pay and benefits. Two of the company’s founders, Annrai O’Toole and Dan Beck, are both former executives of HR platform Workday Inc (O:).

Greylock was also an investor in that company and Workday Ventures is an investor in Utmost. They did not disclose a valuation for Utmost.

O’Toole said that in addition to serving employers, the Utmost app planned to build services to help workers find financial help in areas such as taxes and also provide options for health insurance that workers can buy into. Utmost said the workers own their own data, which Utmost is not able to see.

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