Stockholm-based workforce management software provider Quinyx AB today announced a $50 million Series C funding round to expand its U. S. presence, fund acquisitions and invest in the intelligence features of its core product.

The company’s platform enables organizations to automate, optimize and streamline labor scheduling in a process that involves employee input. Built by a former McDonald’s Corp. employee who was frustrated with the limitations of its legacy scheduling application, Quinyx has amassed an impressive roster of big-name customers, including McDonald’s, Sysco Corp., Domino’s Pizza Inc., A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and Deutsche Post DHL Group.

It has raised more than $103 million. Founder and Chief Executive Erik Fjellborg (pictured) said its largest installation encompasses 70,000 employees.

Quinyx and others sense an opportunity in a severely labor-constrained job market that has been worsened by supply chain disruption. The company said its platform uses artificial intelligence algorithms to optimize scheduling in all but eliminates the human element.

“Say you want to create a perfect schedule for 40,000 employees across North America,” said Fjellborg. “You need to go through an endless number of schedules to get to the best ones. Now we can apply multiple different algorithms to find the best schedule possible.”

Investors are taking notice and are pouring money into startups that can balance employee preferences with management needs. Early this month, When I Work Inc. closed a $200 million growth investment for its “employee-first” scheduling platform. In September, Skello SAS raised $47.3 million for a scheduler that takes local labor laws and employment agreements into account. And Legion Technologies Inc. raised $50 million in May for one that balances workers’ scheduling requests with employer requirements.

Fjellborg said Quinyx also includes features that let employees fit their availability to schedule demands and post shifts they can’t work to a bulletin board where others can bid on them. The platform also features instant polling and a chat function workers can use to communicate with each other and with managers. “Instant polling asks one or two questions to a large workforce,” he said. “It’s much better than an annual survey.”

Customers typically see overall payroll costs fall between 3% and 8% percent in addition to economies gained from reduced administrative costs, the CEO said. “Employee retention is also improved because if you’re giving them the flexibility they will stay longer,” he said.

With offices in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Finland, Germany, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, Quinyx’s business is predominantly European, but Fjellborg said he expects North America to be the company’s largest source of new bookings within three years. “It’s the biggest market in the world for this solution,” he said.

Funding was led by Battery Ventures L.P. with additional support from Alfven & Didrikson Invest AB and Zobito AB.

Photo: Quinyx