Subscribe to the newsletter:
You are organizing your wedding for months and when the special day comes, really rude and unskilled event staff ruin the party. There are no cocktails, no bites and the ice sculpture is melting. What do you do? You get Hyre and you solve all of your problems!
Newly rebranded Hyre is one of the finalist of the Global Final 2016 in Medellin, Colombia. Only 9 months after the big event a lot has happened to the team. We sat with the CEO, Eropa Stein to track their development.
REMIND US HOW IT WORKS
Hyre is an online marketplace that connects event organizers (hotels, caterers, etc.) with event staff (servers, bartenders, etc). Event organizers post shifts for staff to pick up independently and even choose the hourly wage that they want to pay staff. Only staff who qualify for these shifts are immediately notified that these shifts are posted and can select them if they are available to work. Organizers are automatically notified as their shifts get filled. And after the event, both staff and organizers rate each other on their performance in order to ensure quality. And what’s more – payment is handled automatically via Hyre! This solves the age old problem organizers are currently experiencing when using the brick and mortar staffing method (event staffing agencies): high prices for low quality staff! Conversely, Hyre is a simple solution that provides complete control to the event organizers over the quality and price of staff.
THE LONG ROAD OF SUCCESS
For the last couple of months a lot has happened to the team. If we have to draw a timeline this is how it would look like: In May-June 2016 Hyre was officially launched and the software could be successfully used by both of the parties – hotels and staff. Since the beginning of September Hyre joined the accelerator Techstars in Berlin as part of the METRO hospitality program. It was really successful for the startup to be part of this program where they could exchange ideas and experience with other likeminded people. In early February-March next year Hyre is hoping to close its seed funding round and bring the right investors on board.
NAME SAYS EVERYTHING
Currently, Eropa and her team are located in Toronto and are working on bringing customers and team members to Hyre. What was the biggest cornerstone for the team?
“Rebranding the startup. We were constantly erroneously referred to as ‘eStaff’ by our users. Our name was eStaffMatch, but no one seemed to refer to us by our actual name. On top of that our company name sounded too corporate and didn’t express our values.”
This rebranding is working miraculously – caterers and hotels are embracing it seamlessly. Hyre is also planning to expand to major cities like London and New York. These are the cities that already have a buzzing hospitality industry and are therefore more developed in that field – and they are soon to be even more developed in the hospitality department after Hyre appears! It is clear that Hyre is evolving and becoming better with every month, but what is the most important for Eropa?
“The team is the most important. We don’t want people who would just want a job, we want people who are passionate about solving this problem and feel fulfilled coming into work everyday!”
Indeed team is essential when you are a small company, trying to grow big.
CONNECTIONS
Hyre is offering a big business opportunity but needs supporters as well. If you are into the hospitality business and you want to give some of your experience to the team or you are a serious investor – reach out and you may partner with Hyre.