Australian safety and quality inspections company SafetyCulture has raised $30 million to fund expansion into global markets and to support the hiring of new staff in its San Francisco, Sydney and Manchester offices.
The Series B investment round was led by international venture capital firm Index Ventures, with participation by Blackbird Ventures and Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar, who headed a Series A round in 2014.
The company says hiring new staff will include those with specific expertise in engineering, product management, customer support and success, and marketing.
SafetyCulture CEO Luke Anear says employers are empowering their teams with the company’s technology so workers can take responsibility for their personal safety and drive higher quality from the front line.
{loadposition peter}“With each inspection conducted the organisation gains more insight. They can now use the collective knowledge of their teams to make better and informed decisions.
“The funding changes how we go to market. We now provide 24/7 support with teams in the UK, USA and Australia and we will continue to expand in these key markets.
“As we scale we want to build a company where leaders can execute the vision and move quickly without too much structure. Now our focus is finding more great people who share our passion for solving a global problem. SafetyCulture has achieved about 5% of our long term vision, so the additional funding will allow us to grow, push forward.”
According to Anear, word of mouth about SafetyCulture iAuditor and the growing industry movement toward safer, data-driven workplaces has added momentum to the company’s growth - with the app used by over 75% of the ASX 50 companies and enables over one million inspections per month across 80 countries.
Safety Culture lists Australian customers including Coles, Coca-Cola Amatil, BHP Billiton, Schneider Electric and other large enterprises across 20 different industries.
"Companies in all industries are interested in fostering a culture of quality and safety but too many still rely on outdated pen-and-paper solutions that lead to inefficiency, inconsistency and limited visibility across the organisation," says Jan Hammer, partner at Index Ventures.
“Businesses need more than a static paper checklist to run their operations, ensure compliance and quickly respond to customer needs. SafetyCulture, via its mobile app, delivers consistent, standardised experiences at a large scale. It is outpacing a growing industry with its proactive solutions and we believe it is well-positioned to increase its industry lead."
Hammer will join Rick Baker, co-founder of Blackbird Ventures, and Anear, on the SafetyCulture board, with Scott Farquhar continuing as an advisor.