A Proptech Startup Used This Pitch Deck To Raise $5.1 Million To Build A LinkedIn For Construction Workers

• Entrepreneurs find it difficult to hire skilled workers. Workers cannot find good jobs.
• In the year Founded in 2021, Skillit provides a platform for hiring skilled workers.
• The company's CEO led insiders in raising $5.1 million in seed capital.

In the year Since founding capital-backed general contractor Bolster in 2012, Fraser Patterson has tackled a perennial problem faced by many in the industry: how to safely hire tradesmen like electricians and carpenters.

International consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He expects the problems faced by entrepreneurs to worsen. McKinsey says there is a growing gap between construction labor supply and demand, leaving hundreds of thousands of construction jobs unfilled. In addition, many skilled workers are preparing for retirement.

But Patterson points out that demographics won't solve the problem.

"There are many explanations for this crisis that are somewhat ambiguous or abstract, such as an aging workforce, too few young professionals or too few vocational schools," Patterson said. "I see things differently."

Patterson said he had a problem with the data. In particular, Patterson, who has experience as an entrepreneur, banker and venture capital founder, wants to modernize outdated hiring practices. According to him, for many years professionals used job boards to compare jobs on LinkedIn and other sites, construction did not have time to gain popularity in the digital revolution.

This imbalance between labor supply and demand has hindered the construction of a large part of the American economy. According to Patterson, it hinders pressing societal challenges such as decarbonisation, improving infrastructure and building enough housing to address the housing crisis.

In the year In 2021, after Patterson stepped down as CEO of Bolster, he combined the front-end portal of the job search website Skillit with a website where employees can post their skills using software that companies manage behind the scenes. The company applies its own proprietary standards to evaluate skilled workers, this process can keep builders up at night.

The company's primary product is to hire tradesmen or builders who will hone their skills for vocational schools and internships. Employees create their own profiles, conduct their own evaluations, and then search for jobs.

Currently, the company focuses on recruiting the most in-demand contractors, usually for full-time positions with benefits and good pay. Patterson's focus on those employers made it easier for employees to register on the site.

"Historically, the industry has done a poor job of providing quality work to tradespeople," Patterson said, citing seasonal cuts and irregular work as a major challenge for construction workers. 92 percent of platform workers said they are looking for full-time work.

A company's focus on the skilled labor community allows it to analyze data to better understand the needs of potential employers and employees. Eventually, Patterson hopes to expand the company's focus from the construction industry to all skilled non-office jobs.

In January, the company announced it had raised $5.1 million in funding led by construction technology specialist Building Ventures, along with MetaProp, Holt Ventures, Great North Ventures, 1Sharpe Ventures and Takeoff Capital.

In essence, the company's software-as-a-service model is more attractive to traditional capitalists during bear markets like the current one. According to Patterson, the company's speed with recruiters is also attractive to investors.

As federal infrastructure spending increases, demand for rental equipment will increase, he said. Check out the pitch deck Skillit uses to raise seed capital:

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