Queensland unicorn SafetyCulture has acquired SHEQSY, a cloud-based lone worker safety app, for $6 million, bolstering its place as the market leader in frontline technology for workers.
The move will allow SHEQSY to accelerate its freemium offering and growth into the US and Europe, as well as expand SafetyCulture’s products designed to serve an increasingly dispersed and decentralised global workforce.
SafetyCulture was an early investor in the startup, which builds safety apps for remote workers to use on their phones while out in the field.
Founded in 2017 by Hays Bailey, who previously held a management position at navigation tech venture Navman, SHEQSY comprises a cloud platform, a web-based interface for business administrators and apps for workers.
Functionalities like a timer feature set against jobs and activities allow employers to monitor the movements and safety of workers as they complete tasks.
Companies are able to monitor workers at an organisation level, including to raise alerts through a 24-hour call centre if an employee is deemed to be at risk.
Chief executive Bailey says partnering with SafetyCulture will enable the startup to turbocharge its expansion plans.
“The benefit of teaming up with SafetyCulture is that we can rapidly expand into the US and Europe and … markets that we haven’t had an opportunity to enter yet,” Bailey tells SmartCompany.
“[A] partnership with the likes of SafetyCulture probably just accelerates that change [by] about five years.”
Luke Anear, SafetyCulture’s chief executive and founder, said while just 1% of venture capital funding is invested in tooling to support frontline workers, this workforce comprises 80% of the global workforce.
“They’ve been historically underserved when it comes to technology, especially lone workers,” he said in a statement.
Anear said the last two years have consolidated the value of SafetyCulture’s suite of safety auditing and training products.
“We’re excited to be helping more businesses to access SHEQSY’s unique, innovative technology so that this essential group of workers feel more protected in their roles day-to-day,” he said.
SafetyCulture has dedicated the last two years to rapid global growth and expansion, and more than 28,000 organisations now use its core products, iAuditor and EdApp, to perform checks, train staff, report issues, and automate tasks.
The company also manages security and compliance checks for large companies around the world, including Coles, Commonwealth Bank, Kmart, United Nations, Coca-Cola, and British Airways.
SafetyCulture closed an eye watering $99 million funding round in May last year, which bumped its valuation to $2.2 billion and came a year after the tech company’s $60 million Series C round that catapulted it to ‘unicorn’ status.
The SHEQSY acquisition is the latest in a series of acquisitions and investments for SafetyCulture in recent months. The workplace safety player bought microlearning business EdApp in 2020 and recently led an $8 million Series A funding round for Unleash Live, an AI-based video analytics platform.
It also recently opened its doors to $38 million headquarters in Sydney’s tech central precinct.
Bianca Healey is the startups and tech reporter at SmartCompany, with a particular interest in regulation, the creator economy and the growth of the Australian tech sector. You can follow her on Twitter at @biancahealey.
