Time is money — literally. With a majority of people opting for experiences over products, time has never been more valuable, and investors are taking notice.
Whether it’s in the form of a more efficient job search, an easier shopping experience or faster meal preparation, these startups are on a mission to shave hours off of confusing or monotonous tasks. Get to know these time-saving NYC tech companies that VCs are putting big money behind.
Wade & Wendy
Job searching is time-consuming, no matter which side of the job search you’re on. Wade & Wendy is an AI-powered conversation platform for recruiting that uses conversational AI to “make hiring more human.” On the recruiting side, chatbot Wendy manages the initial screening process and asks applicants specific questions about job experience. On the job seeker side, chatbot Wade acts as a career advisor and works with the job seeker to find job opportunities relevant to their interests and experience. The company was launched in 2015 and raised its latest $7.6 million funding round on March 5.
Routinely
If your excuse for missing the gym has anything to do with a lack of clean or stylish workout clothes, there’s a service that can help. Routinely not only helps you find the latest styles, but they also package it in a gym bag and send it directly to you — all within two hours. After that, you can keep the items you want and return the rest, even if they’ve been used. The company handles the cleaning process as well, making the service your “virtual locker.” Routinely raised an undisclosed seed funding in January 2019.
The Farmer’s Dog
As a dog parent, there’s no easy way to pick up dog food with the rest of the items on your grocery list. The Farmer’s Dog makes human-grade pet food that’s customized for your dog and delivered right to your doorstep. Founded in 2014, the company just raised a $39 million Series B round, bringing their total funding amount to $49.1 million.
Verbit.ai
Anyone who’s had to transcribe a video or phone call knows exactly how tedious of an assignment it can be. Verbit.ai uses a mix of AI and human intelligence to do it for you. The company offers audio transcription, captioning services and real-time speech-to-text services that have made industries like law and education much more efficient. To-date, Verbit.ai has raised a total of $34 million in funding, with its latest $23 million Series A round in January 2019.
Spatial
Spatial, an AR company featured on Built In NYC’s 50 Startups to Watch in 2019, helps remote workers save time commuting into the office. It gives teams the ability to collaborate in virtual reality-rendered workspaces, pushing the tech trend of augmented reality in a whole new direction. Founded in 2016, the company has $8.3 million in total funding, as well as an undisclosed seed funding round announced in January 2019.