Orka Technology Group has topped up its coffers with a £29m funding round to fuel the growth of its earned wage access product Orka Pay.
The startup secured the money through a mixture of debt financing from Sonovate and equity funding involving the British Business Bank Future Fund and existing investors, including former UK CEO of Adecco Peter Searle. This takes the total raised by Orka to £31.5m since the company launched in 2017.
Orka will use the cash injection to double its headcount to 50 in 2021 and invest in its full portfolio of tech solutions for shift workers.
“Four years ago we set out to transform the experience of hourly paid workers, who make up 85% of the global workforce,” said Tom Pickersgill, co-founder and CEO of Orka.
“What we’re doing is unique in this sector, and thanks to this funding, we’ll be able to reach many more businesses and their employees in the coming year – and improve the service that we can offer them.
“The worker landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade. More people are looking for work that fits around their life and want the entire process to be less onerous. Our success since launching proves that there is real appetite amongst businesses and employees for an innovative alternative to the traditional recruitment, onboarding and payment model, saving both time and money.”
Peter Searle, existing investor and former CEO of Adecco, added, “Having followed Orka’s journey closely for a few years now, it’s clear that this is a company truly shifting the dial up when it comes to temporary work.
“They have rightly identified an important gap in the market, as more people seek out flexible employment that fits around their lifestyle, and they have unquestionably established themselves as a leader in worker tech. I’m very excited to be supporting them as they enter their next stage of growth.”
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