Naborforce CEO and founder Paige Wilson. (BizSense file photo)
A Richmond-based startup plans to triple its headcount with its latest capital infusion.
Naborforce announced this week that it has closed on a $9 million investment round. The Uber-like service matches older folks who want companionship or assistance with household tasks with contractors (called “nabors” by the company) willing to help.
Founder and CEO Paige Wilson said the new funding will go toward more employees, particularly software developers, as well as improvements to the company’s software platform.
The company currently has about 15 employees, most of them based in its headquarters at 2308 W. Main St. in the Fan. Over the next 15 to 18 months, the plan is to grow that headcount to around 45.
A focus of the hiring spree is to add people who can bring Naborforce’s software development almost entirely in-house. Currently, most development is outsourced. Wilson said that bringing the work in-house will help the company have a firmer hand in the platform’s future and be more responsive to user feedback.
“We’ll always have some vendors with specialties. But we would like to be able to control that process and iterate more quickly,” Wilson said. “An internal team will be more strategic about where we are and where we need to be.”
Wilson said the company is open to both local and remote candidates. Any new changes to its office footprint would come after the company figures out how the split plays out.
Translink Capital led the equity raise. Claritas Capital, which led a $2 million raise for Naborforce last year, also contributed to the most recent round. Other investors included the Artemis Fund and TechStars. Prior to this latest round the company had raised $3.4 million from investors.
Additional hands will also help Naborforce expand into new markets. Wilson said she plans to be in 18 new markets over the next 18 months, with a focus on cities in the southeast and west.
“This is a need across the country as the number of older folks grows,” she said.
Naborforce currently operates in Richmond, Charlottesville, Williamsburg and Virginia Beach as well as Bethesda, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia.
While direct-to-consumer is the company’s focus, it has also slowly been working on an expansion into offering its service as a fringe benefit to employees of other companies. Wilson said the company currently has two formal clients for that program, Dominion Resources and Atlantic Union Bank.
Wilson, a former investment banker, founded Naborforce in 2018. The idea was born while she was caring for her ailing mother.
Naborforce CEO and founder Paige Wilson. (BizSense file photo)
A Richmond-based startup plans to triple its headcount with its latest capital infusion.
Naborforce announced this week that it has closed on a $9 million investment round. The Uber-like service matches older folks who want companionship or assistance with household tasks with contractors (called “nabors” by the company) willing to help.
Founder and CEO Paige Wilson said the new funding will go toward more employees, particularly software developers, as well as improvements to the company’s software platform.
The company currently has about 15 employees, most of them based in its headquarters at 2308 W. Main St. in the Fan. Over the next 15 to 18 months, the plan is to grow that headcount to around 45.
A focus of the hiring spree is to add people who can bring Naborforce’s software development almost entirely in-house. Currently, most development is outsourced. Wilson said that bringing the work in-house will help the company have a firmer hand in the platform’s future and be more responsive to user feedback.
“We’ll always have some vendors with specialties. But we would like to be able to control that process and iterate more quickly,” Wilson said. “An internal team will be more strategic about where we are and where we need to be.”
Wilson said the company is open to both local and remote candidates. Any new changes to its office footprint would come after the company figures out how the split plays out.
Translink Capital led the equity raise. Claritas Capital, which led a $2 million raise for Naborforce last year, also contributed to the most recent round. Other investors included the Artemis Fund and TechStars. Prior to this latest round the company had raised $3.4 million from investors.
Additional hands will also help Naborforce expand into new markets. Wilson said she plans to be in 18 new markets over the next 18 months, with a focus on cities in the southeast and west.
“This is a need across the country as the number of older folks grows,” she said.
Naborforce currently operates in Richmond, Charlottesville, Williamsburg and Virginia Beach as well as Bethesda, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia.
While direct-to-consumer is the company’s focus, it has also slowly been working on an expansion into offering its service as a fringe benefit to employees of other companies. Wilson said the company currently has two formal clients for that program, Dominion Resources and Atlantic Union Bank.
Wilson, a former investment banker, founded Naborforce in 2018. The idea was born while she was caring for her ailing mother.