Roundup: First Advantage, Beamery, Lots of Funding

A roundup of deals, product announcements and other news from the HCM technology community.

First Advantage launched BackgroundDirect, an online background- and drug-screening solution designed specifically for small businesses. First Advantage said BackgroundDirect will reduce the possibility of negligent hiring and employment practices, and enhance compliance, especially in industries like healthcare and transportation. It allows small companies to run checks without making long-term commitments they can’t afford, typically a major hurdle.

Beamery unveiled released Beamery 5, the engagement platform’s most ambitious upgrade to date. The new release offers an upgraded CRM experience and a precise automation suite that provide TA teams with more detailed candidate profiles and enhanced filters and forms. It also offers a flexible employee-branding tools that allow users to customize layouts, fonts and media without requiring coding changes.

In San Francisco, Wonolo, a marketplace that matches fill-in employees with jobs in retail stores and warehouses, raised $32 million in a Series C round led by Bain Capital Ventures, according to media reports. Staffing Industry Analysts says the deal follows a $13 million Series B round in April (led by Sequoia Capital) and brings the company’s total funding to $60 million.

Enboarder, a provider of cloud-based onboarding experiences, raised $4 million in its latest funding round. Leading the round was the VC firm Greycroft. Other participants include Australia-based Our Innovation Fund (OIF. The funding round will accelerate growth in the U.S., as well as support ongoing development efforts, the company said. Enboarder’s customers include McDonald’s, Deloitte, GE, TomTom and Samsung.

Boston-based financial-wellness platform LearnLux has begun attracting attention to itself by announcing the close of a $2 Million seed round “earlier this year.” Participants include Sound Ventures, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Underscore.vc, former Wealthfront CEO Adam Nash among others. LearnLux aims to help employers reduce financial stress by offering workers a customized financial wellness platform as a voluntary benefit.

Lattice announced a new module providing project-based reviews. The feature is designed to help customers who work frequently on project-centered teams or in flat/matrix organizations run performance reviews outside of the traditional organizational chart. Lattice said it’s the first performance management software to offer such an approach.

GigSmart launched its mobile app, which connects employers with on-demand labor needs with workers. Available on both the Apple and Google Play stores, it enables workers to build a profile using more than 3,000 pre-loaded job skills on which employers can base their search. Initially, GigSmart is available in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Indianapolis, Lexington and Louisville.

Phoenix-based Aspect Software is integrating its Aspect Workforce Management product with Amazon Connect. The effort will allow Amazon Connect users to take advantage of Aspect’s workforce solutions including labor forecasting, flexible staff scheduling, intra-day performance tracking and a range of staffing reports. Aspect Workforce Management will operate seamlessly with Amazon Connect as either an on-premise, privately hosted, or on Amazon Web Services (AWS) solution, the company said.

PIRI launched a new platform that enables companies to quickly and directly hire remote engineers, charging a monthly fee (up to $69 per month) that it notes are significantly lower than traditional staffing agency costs. Because its candidate pool is drawn from around the world, PIRI says employers can often engage engineers for as little as $600 per month. Reading between the lines of its web site, PIRI seems to target India-based professionals: It points out advantages of working during Pacific Standard Time hours from an Indian Standard Time location.

California Time and Labor Company, which provides HCM solutions for Golden State employers, launched its LABORsuite package of services tro assist California companies in managing their employment processes including payroll processing, HR administration, time and attendance and benefits management.

HireRight’s 2018 Global Enterprise Spotlight Report found strong hiring forecasts around the world. In the U.S., 31 percent of enterprises expect to increase the size of their workforce by 3 to 5 percent, while in the EMEA, 33 percent plan to expand by at least 6 percent. APAC revealed the strongest growth plans, with 39 percent of large companies expecting to increase their labor force by 6 percent or more. You can download the report here.

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