HotGigs secures $5.3 million in financing from Updata Partners

HotGigs, the only On-Demand Staffing Exchange for both contract and full-time resources, today announced that it has secured a $5.3 million round of Series A financing from Updata Partners, a leading technology-focused venture capital firm based both in Virginia and New Jersey.

This marks the first round of outside equity funding for HotGigs, a company that is rapidly gaining prominence for its powerful business-to-business Staffing Exchange and related Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings. HotGigs will use the funding to expand its management team; scale its employee base; develop new product/service offerings; and launch significant national sales, support and marketing efforts.

ìHotGigs has developed a distinctive value proposition and a unique business model,î said Conor Mullett, co-founder and general partner at Updata Partners, who will join the HotGigs board of directors. ìThe companyís On-Demand Staffing Exchange provides a powerful online portal that simplifies the tedious, cumbersome sourcing process for organizations that work with staffing firms, recruiters and independent contractors to hire contract and full-time workers. The Exchange also offers independent contractors a much-needed, cost-effective means for marketing themselves. Weíre impressed by the companyís initial success, and we see tremendous potential for its unique approach to solving the sourcing problems faced by companies, staffing firms and contractors alike.î

ìWeíre excited to partner with Updata Partners, which has a long history of both investment and M&A activity in the consulting and staffing industry,î said Ken Holec, HotGigsí chairman, who previously served as CEO of Lawson Software, Showcase Technology and PeopleClick. ìThis industry is terribly underserved in terms of inexpensive, easy-to-use tools; and Updata recognizes the inherent opportunity associated with that fact.î

ìThis funding will be instrumental in supporting our aggressive plans to expand our Staffing Exchange and bring valuable new SaaS offerings to market for companies, staffing firms, recruiters and independent contractors,î added Doug Berg, founder and CEO of HotGigs. Berg, who founded HotGigs in 2003, was previously the founder and president of techies.com, a highly successful national Internet company that helped companies hire full-time information technology (IT) talent online.

The HotGigs On-Demand Staffing Exchange streamlines and automates the sourcing process by connecting companies that are seeking contract and full-time talent with the staffing firms and independent contractors that provide qualified candidates. The Staffing Exchange allows companies to confidentially broadcast requirements to their private list of staffing firmsóor to a vast network of local and national firmsóand manage all ranked and sorted responses through a simplified interface.

Companies of all sizesófrom small and medium businesses to Fortune 500 firmsócan also use the Exchangeís free search engine to conduct focused research on pre-qualified contract candidates and view hourly billable rates for contract talent from thousands of staffing firms. Already, the Exchange includes nearly 2,500 hiring companies, 8,000 staffing firms and more than 28,000 independent contractors in a variety of industries.

HotGigs also provides a full suite of on-demand SaaS offerings, including Staffing Relationship Management (SRM) tools that help companies manage their contract workforce, including sourcing, contract management and time/invoicing automation tools; an Agency Referral Program that provides companies a cost-effective alternative to recruiting firms by allowing the companies to post tough-to-fill positions online with pre-set referral fees; and a variety of services that help professional consultants market their profiles, broadcast their availability and win engagements online.