Slinger, a hospitality employment platform that aims to make the CV obsolete by providing the fairest pay and quickest way to acquire hospitality work in the UK, has recently announced a fresh round of pre-seed funding of $608,000 (£500,000). Fuel Ventures led the round, with Ufi Ventures, Andrew Gale, Dan Cobley (Ex-Google MD), Cornerstone Partners, Resolution Foundation, Tim Parsons (Wage Stream CFO), Gary Elden (Ex SThree CEO), Ben Westwood, Richard Ng, and the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund also participating.
This financing will allow the startup to expand its workforce and develop a user career path that includes mentorship, upskilling, interview preparation, and work experience.
Slinger, founded by Theo-Lee Houston in 2021, is an employment platform that provides fun, fair, and flexible hospitality shifts to side hustlers, students, and hospitality professionals around the UK. The platform is revolutionizing the hiring process for organizations by removing outdated practices. The company screens potential employees via video, eliminates advertised shifts in an average of 60 seconds, and provides blossoming and thriving enterprises with a cost-effective option to attract full-time labor if needed later. It ensures that firm obtain quality employees promptly.
Speaking about the company, the Founder of Slinger, Theo-Lee Houston, said:
Our product development is laser-focused on developing more human-led tech solutions to connect people with businesses sustainably. This helps businesses save time (the average shift goes in 60 seconds), offers them flexibility (temp staff), and keeps their money (quick filling of shifts means they can open any time they want to, and our model offers a significantly cheaper pipeline to full-time staff.
Compared to traditional practices such as job boards, CV vetting, and interviews, Slingers’ beta testing found an 80% reduction in hiring expenditures and a 90% reduction in time to fill vacancies. The typical shift is claimed in 60 seconds, and the average wage is £12.95/hr (8% higher than the London living wage). Theo-Lee Houston, a Black founder who quit his banker position to work in the hospitality industry for over ten years, is at the company’s helm.
Lead investor Fuel Ventures shared their thoughts on the startup:
So many hospitality businesses have problems with staffing; companies have had to reduce shifts or even shut on certain days because they don’t have the staff. This has been exacerbated today due to Brexit. Slinger will provide flexibility for gig workers and alleviate staff shortages by removing the key inefficiencies and roadblocks for people to grab well-paid flexible shifts.
Over the previous two years, the firm witnessed organic development, with over 10,000 shifts added to the platform and over £1m+ paid out to hospitality workers.
Mariama Boumanjal, Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Manager for Europe and Africa, commented:
We’re looking forward to working with Theo, the founder of Slinger, a platform that addresses the UK’s hospitality worker shortage by connecting the UK’s 10.3 million frontline workers to Living Wage opportunities.
