HigherMe

HigherMe has created a mobile platform for hiring hourly employees.

The company’s system makes it easy for employers to find, screen, and interview job applicants...

And enables workers to apply for jobs using text messaging and video-based applications.

With its service, HigherMe is targeting the 2.5 million brick and mortar retail stores, and the more than 650,000 franchise restaurants in the U.S.

In just three years, HigherMe has helped more than 100,000 applicants find jobs.

The company has already received funding from professional venture capitalists. Here's what one of them said:

“We invest in companies with the right team solving a real problem for a large, clearly defined market,” said Phil Nadel, Founder and Managing Director at Forefront Venture Partners. “HigherMe fits this criterion.”

In addition, the company has earned the support of NatureBox Founder and CEO Gautam Gupta. NatureBox, a company selling subscription boxes of healthy snacks, has received funding from SoftBank Capital, and generated $50 million in revenue in 2014.

Said Gupta of HigherMe: “Hiring is a serious problem in the restaurant space. [Co-Founder] Rob has a great eye for opportunity and truly cares about helping his customers… when your customers truly love your product, you will win every time, and I think HigherMe is well positioned to do that.”

The idea for HigherMe originated from company co-founder Rob Hunter. Hunter once owned seven Marble Slab ice cream stores, and quickly noticed a significant problem:

Some of his locations struggled to receive job applicants, while others received dozens of resumes, but were riddled with poor performance and high turnover rates.

In fact, in the retail service industry, the average turnover rate is 73%. With 50 million workers in the industry, each of whom cost employers an average of $6,000 to hire, the current economic cost of service employees is $219 billion.

Due to high turnover rates, managers have to spend valuable time interviewing, hiring, and training new employees instead of focusing on managing the store.

Part of the problem is that the current job application process is flawed. Paper resumes, for example, don’t give insight into how an employee might deal with a customer.

HigherMe addresses these issues by connecting qualified candidates to the right jobs quickly. With HigherMe, applicants save time and find jobs, while employers save thousands of dollars each year.

Using HigherMe’s mobile app, applicants apply for jobs through methods as simple as sending a text message. In addition, applicants can submit homemade video resumes, which highlight their personality and people skills.

Applicants can receive e-mail and text alerts through the app for potential job openings.

The app is free to use for applicants, while employers pay HigherMe a monthly subscription fee based on the number of locations in need of hiring and the size of those locations. According to HigherMe, the average cost an employer pays is $75 per month per location.

HigherMe spends approximately $3,000 to acquire each customer, while the customer lifetime value is nearly $20,000.

In 2015, HigherMe completed the Y Combinator accelerator program. This program has previously guided companies including Airbnb, Reddit, and Dropbox to success.

Monthly revenue has grown from $30,000 in August 2016 to $135,000 in April 2018…

And HigherMe is generating $1.6 million in annual recurring revenue.

The number of job candidates has grown 350% in the past year, and 85% of applicants who start using HigherMe's platform complete applications (this rate is 2x to 3x higher than other systems).

The company has partnerships with several top retail companies including McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Domino’s, White Castle, Panera Bread, and Burger King.

In April 2018, HigherMe secured the largest deal in the company's history, covering all hospitality and tourism service companies in Ontario, Canada.

Team Background

Rob Hunter - Co-Founder & CEO

Before starting HigherMe, Rob owned seven Marble Slab ice cream shops. Together, these stores generated $2.5 million in annual sales.

He's also the former owner of Golden Boy Tapes, an online retail company that sold video tapes and DVDs to customers.

Rob spent more than a year as a data scientist for Mobee, a data mining company built by former Google employees.

In addition, he spent nearly four years as an adjunct professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Rob earned a degree in Entrepreneurship from The University of Western Ontario and an MBA from Babson College.

Jean-François Chedeville - Co-Founder & CTO

Jean-Francois has extensive technical experience. He was a former co-founder and the Lead Engineer for Mobee data mining company.

In addition, he served as a software engineer with Neowebcar, a French software-as-a-service company.

Jean-Francois earned a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the European Institute of Technology.

Eric Bouchard - Director of Sales

Eric brings a wealth of sales experience to HigherMe.

Before joining the company, he served as an account executive for Snagajob, an online employment website. In addition, he served in the same position for PeopleMatter, a subsidiary of Snagajob.

Eric formerly served as an account manager for Hewlett-Packard’s Southwest Regional facility.

He also was a former assistant manager for Vector Marketing company.

Eric obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Viterbo University.

Steph Morgan - Chief Revenue Officer

Prior to joining HigherMe, Steph served as General Manager and VP of Sales for TalentEgg, a career resource company based in Toronto, Canada.

In addition, she formerly served as a business risk analyst for TD Ameritrade.

Steph studied Psychology at the University of Ottawa.

Co-Investors

Y Combinator

Seed-stage accelerator whose alumni include Scribd, Reddit, Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe

Forefront Venture Partners

Venture capital firm (formerly known as Barbara Corcoran Venture Partners, named after famous Shark Tank “shark” Barbara Corcoran. Portfolio includes Evelo (electric bicycle company) and Barn and Willow (company producing curtains and drapes).