Small and medium enterprises have become a big opportunity in the world of B2B technology in the last several years, and today a startup that\u2019s building tools aimed at helping them manage their teams of workers is announcing some funding that underscores the state of that market.<\/p>\n
Homebase<\/a>, which provides a platform that helps SMBs manage various services related to their hourly workforces, has closed $71 million in funding, a Series C that values the company between $500 million and $600 million, according to sources close to the startup.<\/p>\n The round has a number of big names in it that are as much a sign of how large VCs are valuing the SMB market right now as it is of the strategic interest of the individuals who are participating. GGV Capital is leading the round, with past backers Bain Capital Ventures, Baseline Ventures, Bedrock, Cowboy Ventures and Khosla Ventures also participating. Individuals include Focus Brands President Kat Cole; Jocelyn Mangan, a board member at Papa John\u2019s and Chownow and former COO of Snag; former CFO of payroll and benefits company Gusto, Mike Dinsdale; Guild Education founder Rachel Carlson; star athletes Jrue and Lauren Holiday; and alright alright alright actor and famous everyman and future political candidate Matthew McConaughey.<\/p>\n Homebase has raised $108 million to date.<\/p>\n The funding is coming on the heels of strong growth for Homebase (which is not to be confused with the U.K.\/Irish home improvement chain of the same name<\/a>, nor the YC-backed Vietnamese proptech startup<\/a>).<\/p>\n The company now has some 100,000 small businesses, with 1 million employees in total, on its platform. Businesses use Homebase to manage all manner of activities related to workers that are paid hourly, including (most recently) payroll, as well as shift scheduling, timeclocks and timesheets, hiring and onboarding, communication and HR compliance.<\/p>\n John Waldmann, Homebase\u2019s founder and CEO, said the funding will go toward both continuing to bring on more customers as well as expanding the list of services offered to them, which could include more features geared to frontline and service workers, as well as features for small businesses who might also have some \u201cdesk\u201d workers who might still work hourly.<\/p>\n The common thread, Waldmann said, is not the exact nature of those jobs, but the fact that all of them, partly because of that hourly aspect, have been largely underserved by tech up to now.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the beginning, our mission was to help local businesses and their teams,\u201d he said. Part of his inspiration came from people he knew: a childhood friend who owned an independent, expanding restaurant chain, and was going through the challenges of managing his teams there, carrying out most of his work on paper; and his sister, who worked in hospitality, which didn\u2019t look all that different from his restaurant friend\u2019s challenges. She had to call in to see when she was working, writing her hours in a notebook to make sure she got paid accurately.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of tech companies focused on making work easier for folks that sit at computers or desks, but are building tools for these others,\u201d Waldmann said. \u201cIn the world of work, the experience just looks different with technology.\u201d<\/p>\n