CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PayShepherd, a contractor management solution for industrial sites, has closed $7 million CAD in an oversubscribed round of Seed+ funding to expand its target markets across North America and enhance its platform with new capabilities.
New investor Inovia Capital, a venture capital firm actively supporting global sustainable tech companies, led the all-equity round, with participation from existing investors Nashville Capital Network, Thin Air Labs, Accelerate Fund III managed by Yaletown Partners with support from A100, as well as undisclosed strategic angel investors. Inovia partner Shawn Abbott is joining PayShepherd’s board as part of the raise.
This funding will unlock PayShepherd’s product development strategy of building a comprehensive, frictionless system of record between the contractor and the client. Leveraging its access to millions of data points in heavy industries, PayShepherd plans to further deepen its technology, including the use of Artificial Intelligence, to add exponential value beyond cost management.
“For too long, heavy industry has relied on outdated processes for vendor management, squandering billions of dollars and crucial relationships in the process,” says Wesley Sessenwein, CEO and Co-Founder at PayShepherd. “This investment supports our commitment to helping industrial operators establish lasting relationships with contractors that are founded on accountability and transparency.”
Founded by Wesley Sessenwein, Jennifer Hunter, and Johan Lee, PayShepherd’s software is purpose-built for heavy industrial sites to advance from its traditionally paper-heavy and complex administrative contractor management processes.
Heavy industrial operators rely on thousands of contractors each year for daily operations, maintenance, and capital projects. However, existing systems aren’t capable of monitoring the contractors’ performance and costs, creating blindspots for accounting, procurement, maintenance and project management. In many cases, this information gap leads to overspending, safety risks, legal issues and destroyed relationships.
With the ability to report costs in real-time and automate contract compliance, PayShepherd’s platform provides full visibility and confidence in contractor operations. Since its launch in 2018, PayShepherd has managed billions in contractor cost submissions, surfacing process efficiencies and unlocking business value within the external workforce.
“Wes and team have done a beautiful job of delivering transparency, accountability and lightning speed to the frustrating and stubbornly manual workflows in coordinating large contracted workforces at the heavy industry sites that are the backbone of our economy. A pattern we’ve seen in successful portfolio companies,” says Shawn Abbott, Inovia Capital Partner. “PayShepherd is a great example of fresh thinking and modern digital SaaS and AI enabling deeply committed founders with personal industry experience to massively improve work experience.”
PayShepherd has grown significantly since closing its $3 million USD ($4.3 million CAD) seed funding in 2022, entering markets in the energy and mining sectors. With this round, PayShepherd has raised $12.1 million CAD in equity financing to date.
PayShepherd intends to further expand into Canada and the United States. For more details about its mission and platform, visit PayShepherd at www.payshepherd.com.
ABOUT PAYSHEPHERD
PayShepherd is how data-driven heavy industrial enterprises streamline contractor management. Our cloud-based solution automates contract compliance, resulting in real-time cost reporting, shared accountability, effective risk management, and governance. The single source of data mitigates legal and financial risks, driving the safe execution of work and protecting mission-critical Client-Contractor relationships.
