by Annette Burgard | Oct 24, 2019 | Press
Coople, Europe’s leading on-demand platform for flexible staff, receives additional funding of USD 32 million from a group of investors led by One Peak Partners and the Growth Equity Business within the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division. In total, Coople has raised USD 76 million in funding to date, making it one of the world’s best funded companies within the flexible job market. The proceeds from the successful Series C funding round will be used to continue investing in the automation of Coople’s online platform, to further expand within existing markets, and to launch Coople’s business in the Netherlands and one other international market.
“We look forward to continuing on our path of revolutionising the world of work. On the one hand, Coople offers employees a convenient way to find high-quality, flexible jobs. On the other hand, Coople provides companies with reliable, easy access to our fast-growing pool of on-demand talent,” said Rinaldo Olivari, CEO of Coople. “Over the past year, we have seen that an increasing number of users are coming to our platform for more than just last-minute jobs. They now rely on Coople for a large part of their income or their core business. We will use the proceeds from this funding round to further improve the automation and user experience of our product, expand our geographic reach, and strengthen our core team with additional talent.”
Since its start in Switzerland in 2009, Coople has introduced its disruptive business model in 3 countries and revolutionised the traditional recruitment industry (market volume: USD 470 billion). The company’s platform uses an algorithm that instantly matches its flexible workforce with the demand from companies. Amongst other factors, the algorithm takes into consideration a worker’s location, availability, experience and ratings and matches these with the requirements of the hiring company.
The Coople platform provides end-to-end automation of the HR process; from planning, recruiting, on-boarding and hiring to workforce management, payroll and payments. This allows companies to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with HR administration.
By migrating to the AWS cloud this year, Coople has further improved availability, resiliency, and its technical foundations, and is looking forward to scaling in existing and new markets. The company is also extending its world leading flexible staff planning software to enable clients to upload and manage their internal flexible staff.
With the funding, Coople continues its expansion and innovation through the course of 2020
Today, Coople has over 400,000 registered ‘Cooplers’ (flexible employees) and over 20,000 registered companies on its platform. The company has a market leading position in Switzerland and continues to show triple digit annual growth rates in the UK, a market it entered in 2016.
Earlier this month, Coople announced the appointment of Thijs Dirkzwager, the new Managing Director for the Netherlands, to launch in the Dutch market. In its existing markets, Coople plans to continue its growth path in the UK and in Switzerland. An increasing number of large blue-chip companies in these markets already rely on Coople for on-demand staffing, including Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Financial Times, IWG, Swisscom, C&A, AXA Winterthur, Globus, and Moet Hennessy.
To further accelerate its growth, Coople has strengthened its leadership team in 2019. The new members of the Senior team are Annette Burgard, Vice President Marketing; Yves Schneuwly, Managing Director Switzerland; Kit Glover, Managing Director UK; and Thijs Dirkzwager, Managing Director Netherlands.
David Klein, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of One Peak Partners, said “We look forward to our continuing collaboration with Coople, particularly with regard to further international expansion. The market for flexible talent remains one of the most exciting technology market opportunities in Europe, and, with its expanded management team, Coople is in prime position to further expand its market leadership.“
by Annette Burgard | Sep 2, 2019 | Stories
As a self-confessed geek, Tony Macklin became interested in technology when playing computer games as a teenager. However, unlike most adolescents, Tony went on to develop an inventory control program for his father’s business at the tender age of 14. His interest lay in how the existing program could better fit the needs of employees; the start of a long-held interest in the relationship between technology and people. Tony still believes that truly understanding customers lies at the heart of developing great technology solutions.
Joining Coople in 2016 as CPO, Tony Macklin is responsible for enhancing the way Coople connects people to jobs. We sat down with him to discuss how technology is changing the way people live and work.
Tony, prior to joining Coople, you worked at eBay and Ancestry.com. What prompted you to make the leap?
I’ve been lucky to work at many companies that have changed the world in some way. eBay created a step-change in how we buy and sell. Ancestry.com made it possible for people to discover their family history online; I like to think of it as a Facebook of those that came before.
The common factor is the use of technology to solve human problems and impact our lives for the better. When I came across Coople, I was fascinated by the potential for technology to change the world of work and increase the level of choice for workers. Delivering this self-determination is important. In the UK alone, close to 5 million people have made an active choice to work as temps, contractors, or freelancers as they strive to juggle employment with other commitments. Coople gave me the chance to help people balance life and work, touching their lives in a meaningful way.
With that in mind, how can technology change the workplace for the better?
The internet has changed many aspects of our lives, but until recently it had not won in the world of work. This is because work is a human endeavour that cannot be governed by algorithms. However, there is an important role for technology in the workplace. It can help people and businesses succeed by connecting workers to the right jobs and managing the communications process that enables this.
On-demand staffing platforms like Coople have been developed to help employers find skilled, flexible workers, even when they need staff at short notice. This helps businesses to respond to fluctuations in demand and ensure shifts are filled. It also lets them run their businesses more economically, using on-demand staffing to dramatically lower overall staffing costs. For workers, we make it easy to select jobs based on location, experience and availability. It is this ability for businesses and workers to better connect and engage, in a way that meets the needs of both sides, that will revolutionise the industry.
You have worked with some of the most exciting technology brand around. What has motivated you throughout your career?
The phrase ‘I didn’t know the internet could do that,’ is what drives me. Technology is at its most powerful when it is solving human challenges in surprising and unique ways. To do this effectively you need to talk to your customers, understand their problems and develop innovative approaches to tackling these. At Coople we have spent a huge amount of time talking to our customers and our Cooplers to understand their challenges. These conversations will guide our approach to product development as we continue to power the gig economy across Europe.
by Annette Burgard | Aug 12, 2019 | Stories
Since Amanda started working as a Coopler earlier this year, it’s given her flexibility in her work life. It has allowed her to follow her dream of setting up a food photography business while working as a chef.
Meet Amanda: Coopler, Chef, Photographer
24-year-old Amanda moved to London at the start of this year from Dublin. Originally from Brazil, she moved over to Europe in 2018 seeking a new, creative environment. “I’ve always loved the European lifestyle,” she said.
Amanda is a self-confessed food lover – she studied culinary arts at university and has five years of experience working as a pastry chef. However, she always dreamt of starting up her own business as a freelance food photographer. Ultimately, Amanda wanted photography to be her main job and source of income – no easy feat. “In the kitchen, you don’t have time for yourself. The hours are really long,” Amanda explained, reflecting back on her time working as a full-time chef. “Every week you have a different day off, so it was impossible to plan anything.”
How does Amanda approach work?
Luckily, upon moving to London, Amanda found a solution that enabled her to continue working as a chef and begin to start her own business – being a Coopler. She knew that working as a chef on a flexible basis (i.e. as a Coopler) would fit around her lifestyle. When she downloaded Coople, she realised she could book short-term shifts working as a chef. This offered her some financial stability as well as a working schedule that was completely malleable to her wants and needs. It also gave her the spare time she was seriously lacking.
This flexibility meant she could finally start her freelance food photography business. She had the time to dedicate to it, and crucially, no strict bosses that she had to ask for time off. She also didn’t want to give up entirely on her work as a chef. As a Coopler, she could easily balance the two.
At the start of this year, inspired by London’s creativity and photography scene, she took the plunge. “It’s challenging, but I love a challenge,” she explained. “I’ve always loved the artistic side of food and capturing it in my photos. Now, being a chef is my side business – my photography takes priority.” Typically, Amanda books in for two chef shifts a week on Coople, and spends three or four days a week focusing on her business; always changing up the days to ensure variety in her work life.
Balancing photography with a chef career
This flexibility is her favorite thing about Coople. “I can arrange what time I’m going to work and how I can fit it around my photography – that’s the main benefit,” she explained. She tends to book Coople shifts a week or so in advance. Time management is key for Amanda, but Coople lets her manage her time in a way that truly works for her. “The most challenging thing for me is creating a good balance between the two facets of my work, but Coople has massively helped with that.”
Now, less than a year since its launch, Amanda’s freelance photography business is thriving. Amanda gets to work for a variety of clients in a job that embraces her creative side – and all on her own terms.
“Now that I balance my work using Coople, my lifestyle is much better. I can plan everything as my schedule isn’t always changing like it did when I worked full-time as a chef. And my personal life as a freelance chef is the best. I get to have so many experiences, and make lots of different contacts at the same time.”
You can check out more of Amanda’s beautiful photography @caneveramanda
by Annette Burgard | Jul 15, 2019 | Press
Coople is partnering with the organizers of the Freeride World Tour to launch the first ever Verbier E-Bike Festival. The event, which aims to become Europe’s largest gathering for electric bike riders and enthusiasts, will take place this year from the 13th to the 18th of August. To commemorate the inauguration, Coople is holding an open casting for several electric roles through its job platform.
Once-in-a-lifetime ‘dream’ jobs
Adrenaline-seeking candidates with a need for speed are invited to apply for the role of POV E-Bike Camera Operator. Three selected candidates will be presented with the rare opportunity to follow the world’s best mountain bikers in an exclusive race around the massif of the majestic Mont Blanc. Their mission: to capture all the action and rush from the riders’ perspective through a wearable camera. Over the course of 3 days, they will traverse 3 countries and over 300 kilometers, along breathtaking balconies and through spectacular passes, to capture jaw-dropping visual content from the Verbier E-Bike Festival. To be considered for one of the roles, candidates should be fit and be able to demonstrate experience of mountain biking through demanding terrain and conditions.
Following the Xtreme Verbier leg of the Freeride World Tour in March, this marks the second collaboration between Coople and the organizers. Coople, which is celebrating 10 years in Switzerland, is continuing to challenge traditional views of the gig economy. “Flexible work is not only restricted to boring or menial jobs, and these dream jobs speak to that,” says Simon Vogel, Regional Manager for Western Switzerland. “There are so many exciting opportunities which offer flexibility on the market right now, and we’re bringing them to people.” The company aims to provide job-seekers across Switzerland with a smooth and easygoing experience for finding flexible jobs across a multitude of sectors and industries.
The first-ever Verbier E-Bike Festival
The Cooplers selected for the special role will be part of the very first edition of the Verbier E-Bike Festival. The 5-day event will transform the village of Verbier into a playground for riders and bike enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. More than 30 industry brands will be represented and festival-goers can enjoy a unique opportunity to test and compare the newest models of e-bikes. The Festival will be completed with a selection of bike tours around the region of Val de Bagnes, where participants can explore the area’s best trails, discover the biggest e-bike test center in the country, sample local food and culture from the Valais, and test their own endurance on the tracks.
by Annette Burgard | Jul 4, 2019 | Information for companies
I want you to take a moment to think about a job, any job. No matter what the function or job title is, chances are you were not thinking about flex work, but of a full-time, 9-5 job, right?
We tend to consider fixed contracts and full-time roles to be the norm. Yet, Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) discovered in a recent study that 34% of large companies’ workforces were flexible workers. That’s right, over a third of these people are not employed by the organization they work for. This includes temps, freelancers, contractors, consultants, interim workers and those working under statement-of-work contracts.
Why is this happening? Well, a flexible workforce can not only help businesses manage challenges like peaks in demand and absenteeism; it also has the potential to help companies scale, outperform, and outcompete in the new world of work. However, organizations will only realize these benefits if they take a smart approach to integrating, nurturing and retaining flexible workers.
Is flex work a trend that is likely to continue? And, if so, what should HR leaders be doing about this phenomenon?
From a business perspective, leaders are recognizing that they can only win in today’s hyper-competitive market if they have better talent and skill than their competitors. At the same time, they also need to remain efficient, lean, and agile. This – coupled with a shortage of quality workers — is driving business leaders to seek help from the flexible workforce. The ability to adapt human resources around fluctuating customer demands and deal with unexpected short-term change without losing work culture has become essential.
On the other side of the coin are the workers. In the UK alone, close to 5 million people have made an active choice to work as temps, contractors, or freelancers. This phenomenon isn’t unique to the UK, the trend is similar across Europe and in the US.
Why do workers choose more unpredictable working conditions? The most obvious answer is simple: it fits into the rest of their lives. One of the main advantages flexible work brings is that it’s adaptable and convenient for the individual. Flexible workers are in control of the hours or days they work.
But flexibility isn’t the only reason: many also find professional fulfillment in the diversity of flexible work. Pursuing a variety of jobs is not only interesting, it can make the act of work more meaningful. This last factor might be more surprising, but it is not to be overlooked. Who wouldn’t want to feel fulfilled in their work?
Tapping into the flexible workforce
With the benefits of hiring flexible workers becoming clear, businesses are looking for the best approach to finding reliable temporary staff. While traditional agencies still have an important role to play in the world of staffing, new entrants such as Coople are making the whole HR and recruiting experience much easier and faster for employers and workers alike. Even more importantly, they truly put workers in control of their time. For that reason, I expect to see continued growth of these app-based employment platforms. Aside from enabling quantitative and qualitative matches between employers and employees, the use of rating systems to evaluate both assignment and service quality have helped bring transparency and light to an often opaque landscape.
However, each new disruption faces its obstacles, and flex work is no exception. To unleash its full potential, businesses need to change their attitude towards flexible workers. Until they stop viewing flex work as a short-term transaction, they miss out on its potential to serve as a permanent solution that contributes to culture and business success.
Managers need to understand the opportunity that lies in viewing flex workers as a core part of their company’s business. When flexible workers are onboarded with care, equipped with the right tools for the job, they feel a sense of belonging, they will lead to an increase in overall company productivity and performance, just as full-time employees.
To sum it all up, a smartly integrated flexible workforce can help businesses manage staffing challenges as well as driving competitive advantage. But only if these workers are onboarded carefully and treated as a core part of the team.
ABOUT KEVIN GREEN
Kevin Green Coople Strategic AdvisorKevin Green is the former CEO of Rec and HR Director of the Royal Mail letters division. He is the author of Competitive People Strategy, How to Attract, Develop and Retain the Staff You Need for Business Success, published in July 2019.
