Electric, an NYC-based startup that offers remote IT support for small and medium-size businesses, announced Tuesday it closed on a $40 million Series C led by Greenspring Associates. This is the company’s third round of funding in just 12 months, coming off a $7 million raise in May and a $14.5 million raise in March.
Founded in 2016, Electric offers a variety of IT services through its chat-based interface, allowing companies that aren’t necessarily big enough to have their own dedicated IT department to solve their technical problems in real time. Instead of having to hire more humans or contract out service providers, SMBs can use the platform to manage all their devices, software subscriptions, permissions and more in one place.
“We are actually doing something that no one has ever done before, which is to automate IT support,” Jamie Coakley, Electric’s VP of people, told Built In.
This, of course, has resulted in high demand for Electric amid the pandemic. As organizations big and small shift to remote work, the way these businesses operate has been completely transformed, meaning services like Electric’s are more important than ever. Indeed, the company says revenue and headcount more than doubled in 2020 alone.
“The abrupt shift to remote work forced companies of all sizes and stages to take a hard look at their core pillars like IT,” Hunter Somerville, a general partner at Greenspring Associates said in a statement. “In order to maintain productivity, security and business continuity outside the physical office, a solution like Electric’s is a game-changer. We’re thrilled to put our support behind the team and its technology during a time when it’s most needed.”
Looking ahead, Electric says it will use this fresh funding to expand its sales and marketing efforts to accelerate growth even more. It also plans to grow its team and further invest in its diversity programs and philanthropic efforts.
As a leader of Electric’s people team, this is what most excites Coakley. She says that, while it has always maintained a diverse team, the company has been especially proactive about its DEI efforts in the wake of the George Floyd protests over the summer. This has been done internally through things like trainings and ERGs, as well as externally through partnerships. One such partnership is with The Last Mile, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helps teach incarcerated people how to code so they can get jobs upon their release.
In the end, Coakley says the goal of these efforts is to both make the world a better place, but also strengthen the company long term.
“[Electric] meets or exceeds tech benchmarks when it comes to gender representation and racial diversity ... but tech benchmarks suck,” Coakley said. “We’ve seen the studies: more diverse populations, more diverse companies, companies that foster diversity end up being more successful, more profitable and they last longer. All the business cases out there show that this is not just a good thing to do or the right thing to do, but it actually impacts the bottom line as a business strategy. I want to live in a world where that company exists.”
