WorkHound announces $500,000 investment to grow company

A Des Moines, Iowa-based software company working to reduce driver turnover in the trucking industry announced it has raised $500,000 to grow the business.

WorkHound, co-founded by Arkansas native Max Farrell, takes feedback and ideas that truck drivers share with carriers, aggregates the information and turns it into “actionable insights to help manage and retain drivers,” according to a news release. This round of investment into the company was led by Right Side Capital Management of San Francisco. Other investors included Dynamo Fund of Chattanooga, Tenn., Twelve19 Ventures of Des Moines and several angel investors.

“This funding is a great opportunity to put some rocket fuel behind our business and help more companies understand the importance of driver engagement and retention,” Farrell, who is CEO of WorkHound, said in the release. “It’s increasingly evident that turnover is an epidemic in the industry.”

The money raised will help WorkHound “improve their product, ensure customer satisfaction and build long-term relationships with the biggest names in the trucking industry,” the release shows. While WorkHound focuses on driver retention in the trucking industry, it might look to help other industries with retention, including warehousing, manufacturing and nursing.

“WorkHound helps logistics companies connect with their front-line workers,” said Ted Alling, managing director of Dynamo. “The result is a happier, more informed, and ultimately, more productive workforce.”

Turnover rate for large carriers fell to 81% in the third quarter of 2016, down from 100% in the same period in 2015, according to trade organization American Trucking Associations. The rate fell three times in 2016, and in the third quarter, it was at the lowest point since the second quarter of 2011.

WorkHound was established in 2015 by Farrell and Andrew Kirpalani and has six full-time employees working at offices in Chattanooga and Des Moines.