China’s Renren leads $22m round for US job search platform

GGV Capital, Chicago Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Garland Capital, KGC Capital, Pritzker Group, Wicklow Capital and other individual investors also participated.

Founded in 2012, Chicago-based Shiftgig provides a platform to connect employers with people who are looking for extra shifts in the hospitality, customer service, and events industries. Workers can choose when, where and for which local employers they want to work through the app.

The funding will be used to expand the on-demand jobs services to more cities in North America, as well as to invest in sales, marketing, technology and operations. The startup said it already serves more than 270 clients in eight cities.

"We are impressed with the company's growth and driven team," said Joe Chen, CEO of Renren, in a statement. "Shiftgig has become the industry leader in this massive market. We are excited to partner with them to scale their business."

US-listed Renren received a take-private offer from its management in June. Led by Chen, Renren is trying to revolutionize its business by investing in start-ups far removed from social networking and games. Most of the targets are in the US.

In April, it led a $70 million round for US mortgage marketplace LendingHome. Stock trading site Motif, real estate crowdfunding platform Fundraise and peer-to-peer lending site Social Finance (SoFi) are among the other US-based start-ups to receive backing from Renren.

Last month, Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group led a $1 billion Series E round of funding for SoFi, with participation from Renren and other investors.

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• Topics
• Greater China
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• China
• TMT
• Venture
• GGV Capital
• USA