Manchester-based Orka raises £29 million to expand tech suite for shift workers

Manchester-based Orka raises £29 million to expand tech suite for shift workers

Orka Technology Group, a Manchester-based startup building digital solutions for shift workers, has raised £29 million and will use the capital to grow Orka Pay, a flexible wage product that launched last year.

The fundraise was a mixture of debt financing from Sonovate and equity funding from the British Business Bank Future Fund and existing investors, including former UK CEO of Adecco, Peter Searle. This takes the total raised by Orka to £31.5 million since the company launched in 2017. 

Orka Pay lets shift workers (at partner organisations) withdraw up to 50 percent of their wages as soon as they have earned them, providing an alternative to high-interest loans and credit card debt. In addition to expanding that tool, the UK company will use the funding to double its headcount to 50 and invest in the rest of its portfolio, which includes the company’s flagship product, a gig marketplace called Orka Works. Later this year will bring Orka Check, a tool to improve the process for worker background checks.

Photo: co-founders James Doyle, Tom Pickersgill (CEO) and Nick Groves

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