iziwork raises USD 43 million to reinvent the way people get access to and experience temporary work 

January 13, 2021
Europe

  •        iziwork, a committed employment platform, announces a new fundraising of USD 43 million from Cathay Innovation and Bpifrance via its Large Venture fund.
  •       This new round, which brings the total amount raised by iziwork since its creation two years ago to USD 68 million, will enable the platform to accelerate its deployment in France and abroad and double its R&D investments.

A “French Tech” company reinventing access to employment 

Founded in France in September 2018, iziwork has become a key player in the temporary employment market in Europe in just two years. The digital platform has established itself through its efficiency and the simplicity of its user experience, which has convinced more than 800,000 candidates and 2,000 client companies in France and Italy. In 2020, iziwork had 220 permanent employees, 120 partner agents and 25,000 temporary employees on assignment.

Its “tech4good” employment model has found a particular echo in the current health and economic crisis: iziwork has seen the number of its employees on assignment quadruple between April and December 2020.

By setting up its R&D centre of excellence staffed by 60 seasoned engineers (researchers, developers, data scientists), iziwork started from a blank page and reinvented each stage of the employment agency service for the benefit of candidates and companies. This ranges from onboarding, in 2 minutes on the smartphone application, to personnel management and recruitment. The latter is based on artificial intelligence that enables optimal recommendation of the best profile for each assignment and vice versa, with the result that 95% of assignments are filled in less than 4 hours. Administrative management is fully automated, from time sheets to payroll, to drastically reduce the possibility of error.

Temporary employees benefit from ongoing support beyond the assignments through a wide range of free services on the application that aim to increase their employability and make their daily life easier: instant deposits, a 10% annual paid time savings account, personalised professional training and e-learning, medical teleconsultation, etc. For those furthest from employment, iziwork also offers tailored support for equal opportunities, such as its “training for employment” program in partnership with the non-profit organisation Generation.

Finally, iziwork is also transforming the organisation of the employment services industry, enabling new economic opportunities for recruitment professionals. By setting up their own company and joining the “iziwork Partners” network, they can put their expertise to good use while gaining in flexibility, efficiency and competitiveness thanks to the digital model. More than 120 iziwork partner agents currently market and operate the platform throughout the territory, working closely with client companies to offer their local expertise and support. 

For Mehdi Tahri, co-founder of iziwork, “In a context of economic crisis and worsening unemployment around the world, it is more imperative than ever to reinvent our access to employment, particularly for the least qualified workers. We are convinced that, thanks to technological innovation, we have a unique opportunity to offer both more work by making access to employment more fluid, but also better working conditions for temporary workers.”

Accelerating its technological innovations in Europe

With this new round of financing, iziwork aims to consolidate its position as the digital leader in temporary work in France and Italy, to accelerate the deployment of its platform internationally with openings in several new countries from 2021, and to continue to innovate in the service of employment by doubling its R&D investments.

Today we want to accelerate the positive transformation of the labour market in which we are engaged by doubling our R&D staff, and to push further the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence, data analysis and automation to radically improve the way people access to and experience temporary work” explains Mehdi Tahri, co-founder of iziwork. “These investments will enable us to improve the daily lives of millions of temporary workers in Europe on our own scale, while offering an unrivalled quality of service to our client companies” continues Mehdi Tahri.

“By providing fast, efficient and fully digital access to employment and training, iziwork enables hundreds of thousands of workers to be put in touch with recruiting companies. In less than three years, iziwork has become the reference platform for temporary workers and is positioning itself as a key player in the economic recovery of France and Europe. As a responsible investor, Cathay Innovation seeks to maximise the positive impact of its investments, which is why we are particularly proud to contribute to this recovery alongside iziwork and to support the emergence of a new European technological leader”, says Jacky Abitbol, partner at Cathay Innovation.

We are delighted to join the iziwork adventure and to support the company in the digitalisation of the temporary employment industry. We have been thoroughly impressed by the management team which has managed to roll out its unique model in a very short period of time. The company is now well positioned to become a global technology leader of French origin”, adds Charlotte Corbaz, Investment Director of Bpifrance’s Large Venture fund.

About iziwork:

Founded in September 2018, iziwork has become the digital leader in temporary employment in France. With €55 million raised, 800,000 registered on its platform and assignments with 2,000 clients including 300 major accounts such as Carrefour, Fnac-Darty, PSA Group and Arc International, the platform has recorded annual growth of 300% and has achieved one of the highest growth rates in the French Tech sector. https://www.iziwork.com/fr

Press contact iziwork
Jennifer Deu, Communication and Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
+33 6 10 61 05 36

 About Cathay Innovation:

Cathay Innovation is a global venture capital partnership, created in affiliation with Cathay Capital, investing in startups at the center of digital revolution across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Its global platform unifies technology investment across continents, investors, entrepreneurs and leading corporations to accelerate startup growth with access to new markets, invaluable industry knowledge and introductions to potential partners from the start. As a multistage fund with over $1.5 billion assets under management and offices across San Francisco, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, Cathay Innovation partners with visionary entrepreneurs and startups positively impacting the world through technology.

To learn more, please visit www.cathayinnovation.com or follow us on Twitter @Cathayinnov.

 Cathay Innovation Press Contact
Yoann Besse, Citigate Dewe Rogerson
[email protected]
06 63 03 84 91

 

About Bpifrance and the Large Venture Fund     

Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses – at every stage of their development – through loans, guarantees, equity investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extrafinancial services (training, consultancy.). to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation, export…).

For more information, please visit: www.bpifrance.fr and presse.bpifrance.fr – Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance – @BpifrancePresse

Large Venture is a €1,75bn Growth fund targeting highly innovative Technology & Life Sciences companies (listed or not), active on high potential markets, with a strong french footprint and a proven business model. Large Venture is an active shareholder, with a long term vision. It always coinvests, as a lead or as a follower. It focuses on rounds above €20m with a minimum first ticket around €10m. It has invested in more than 55 companies. 

Press contact Bpifrance
Laure Schlagdenhauffen
[email protected] – 01 41 79 85 38