NEW YORK, April 28, 2010 – Assured Labor, Inc., (www.AssuredLabor.com), the first web and mobile marketplace for jobs built exclusively for emerging markets, announced today that it has raised $1 million in seed funding. The funding will enable the company to expand its Latin American offering, EmpleoListo (www.EmpleoListo.com), and to enhance its disruptive recruitment technology.

Assured Labor leverages the power of text messaging and the Internet to connect employers with mid-to-low wage workers. The innovative service is optimized for the way that candidates in emerging markets really find jobs, as 67 percent of Internet users do not have a computer at home. Job seekers who register with Assured Labor can connect with hundreds of employers, and receive interview requests via text message, while companies that suffer from high worker turnover can shorten their recruitment process from weeks to hours. Filling positions sooner enhances companies’ productivity, and grants workers additional opportunities to earn income.

“Through Assured Labor, job seekers around the world will be able to leverage their mobile phones to connect with job opportunities,” said David Reich, CEO and co-founder of Assured Labor. “Traditional job boards have only impacted the tip of the iceberg. Assured Labor’s cost effective platform enables employers in emerging markets to leverage the ubiquity of mobile phones to hire better workers faster than ever before. We’re thrilled to have brought on a group of investors experienced in building digital marketplaces around the world.”

Assured Labor’s funding comes from notable investors including: Nexus Venture Partners, Kima Ventures, Michael Van Swaaij (former CEO and Chairman of Skype), and Fabrice Grinda (CEO of OLX.com) among others.

Founded at the MIT MediaLab, Assured Labor has promoted employment through efficient and transparent marketplaces in multiple geographies since 2008. The company launched its pilot in Central America in 2009 in partnership with the region’s largest wireless carrier.

About Assured Labor, Inc.

Assured Labor leverages the power of text messaging and the Internet to connect employers in emerging markets with mid-to-low wage workers. The marketplace for jobs leverages mobility to reach workers who are connected by mobile phones, but not consistently on the Internet. Assured Labor offers companies that suffer from high worker turnover a platform that can shorten their recruitment process from weeks to hours. Filling positions sooner enhances companies’ productivity, and grants workers additional opportunities to earn income. Founded at the MIT MediaLab, the company launched its Latin American marketplace, EmpleoListo, in 2009. More information is available at www.assuredlabor.com.

For media inquiries, please call (888) 274-2561 or email press@assuredlabor.com.  You can download a print ready version here.

Búsqueda de trabajo basada en el uso de teléfonos celulares cambiará la forma del reclutamiento

NEW YORK, Abril 28, 2010 – Assured Labor, Inc., (www.AssuredLabor.com), el primer Mercado web y telefónico para encontrar trabajo creado exclusivamente para mercados emergentes anunció hoy que obtuvo fondos por $1 millón como capital semilla. Dicho capital permitirá a la compañía expandir a Latinoamérica su servicio, llamado EmpleoListo (www.EmpleoListo.com), y para mejorar su disruptiva plataforma tecnológica de reclutamiento.

Assured Labor apalanca el poder de los mensajes de texto celular y del Internet para conectar a los empleadores con los trabajadores de mandos medios y operativos. El innovador servicio está optimizado para la manera en como los candidatos en mercados emergentes realmente encuentran trabajo, dado que el 67 por ciento de los usuarios de Internet no cuentan con una computadora en casa. Las personas que buscan trabajo al registrarse con Assured Labor pueden ponerse en contacto con cientos de empleadores y recibir invitaciones a entrevistas vía mensajes de texto; en tanto, las compañías que enfrentan un alto nivel de rotación de personal pueden acortar su proceso de reclutamiento de semanas a horas. Ocupar las vacantes en menor tiempo mejora la productividad de las empresas, y otorga a los trabajadores oportunidades adiciones de recibir un ingreso.

“A través de Assured Labor, las personas que buscan trabajo alrededor del mundo serán capaces de usar sus teléfonos móviles para conectarse con oportunidades de empleo”, dice David Reich CEO y co-fundador de Assured Labor. “Las bolsas de trabajo tradicionales únicamente han atacada la punta del iceberg. La plataforma de Assured Labor es rentable y permite a los empleadores en mercados emergentes apalancar la penetración de los teléfonos móviles para contratar mejores empleados de una manera más rápida que antes. Estamos emocionados de haber reunido a un grupo de inversionistas con experiencia en la creación de mercados digitales alrededor del mundo”.

El financiamiento de Assured Labor proviene de notables inversionistas como Nexus Venture Partners, Kima Ventures, Michael Van Swaaij (antiguo CEO y Presidente de Skype), y Fabrice Grinda (CEO de OLX.com) entre otros.

Fundado en el MIT MediaLab, Assured Labor ha promovido el empleo a través de mercados eficientes y transparentes en múltiples geografías desde 2008. La compañía lanzó su piloto en Centroamérica en 2009 en sociedad con el mayor operador de telefonía móvil de la región.

Sobre Assured Labor, Inc.

Assured Labor aprovecha el poder de los mensajes de texto y del Internet para conectar a los empleadores en mercados emergentes con trabajadores de mandos medios y operativos. El mercado aprovecha la movilidad para contactar a los trabajadores que están conectados a través de sus teléfonos celulares, pero que no cuentan con acceso constante a Internet. Assured Labor ofrece a las compañías que sufren de alta rotación de personal una plataforma que puede acortar su proceso de reclutamiento de semanas a horas. Ocupar las vacantes en menor tiempo mejora la productividad de las empresas, y otorga a los trabajadores oportunidades adiciones de recibir un ingreso. Fundado en el MIT MediaLab, la compañía lanzó en América Latina su servicio, EmpleoListo, en 2009. Más Información disponible en www.assuredlabor.com

Para consultas mediáticas, por favor llame al +1 (888) 274-2561 o escriba al correo electrónico press@assuredlabor.com.

This January Assured Labor’s founders gathered in at the Managua office for a week and a half to round up and plan for 2010. We spent some QT with customers and even had the pleasure of hosting one of our investors in Nicaragua. Mapping out an entire year takes a lot of foresight, but more than anything, takes a good whiteboard.

Unfortunately, the white board that came with EmpleoListo’s office had been drawn on with a permanent marker before it was acquired by Assured Labor’s Chief Revenue Officer Joseph Bamber. While this was just our backup whiteboard JR (Joseph) made it his mission to make this white board usable by the end of the trip. His perseverance paid off and by the time our Sales, Marketing, Product Development and Operations plans had been hatched so had his sparkling clean white board – ready to be filled with more great plans.

As you’d imagine, after an intense 7 day work week, the air conditioning began to wear on the team and our investor requested a change of scenery before his departure. This led us to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua’s surfing haven where multiple hump back whales had recently been spotted. So, after conducting a series of surf related team building exercises the team was picked up by a small boat run by two fishermen who are part of a local fishing cooperative.

Shortly after embarking on our quest to spot whales our fishermen guides informed us that it was too windy for the whales to be spotted and suggested we fish instead. As weathered entrepreneurs we appreciated our guides’ knack for turning a negative into a positive and immediately complied. In turn all four of us brought in a fish. Three plumb Tuna’s (5 pounds plus) followed by something resembling an eel. We ate well that night, and made our way back to our respective Assured Labor offices the next day.

Along with white boards, surf boards and tuna I recommend the following tools to keep your distributed team in sync.

• Skype (www.skype.com)
• DropBox (www.dropbox.com)
• 5PMWeb (www.5pmweb.com)
• RememberTheMilk (www.rememberthemilk.com)
• CoMindWork (www.comindwork.com)
• Google Docs
• Google Calendar

Saludos,
Dave and the Assured Labor team

2009 was the year we put our heads down and got to work creating the service Assured Labor was intended to be. The ultimate service for recruiting mid-to-low wage workers in emerging markets using web and mobile technology.

Highlights from the last year include:

• The launch of our Latin American brand – EmpleoListo, to much fanfare in Central America.
  • You can take a look at http://www.empleolisto.com
  • You can see some of our recent Television appearances at http://www.empleolisto.com/media.jsp
• Over 10,000 candidates registered!
• An expanding team, now up to 9 full-time across three continents
• Partnering with Latin America’s largest wireless carrier, Claro, to bring EmpleoListo into the hands of thousands of users.
• New office space in Managua. And new office space in New York and Cambridge at Dogpatch Labs (http://www.dogpatchlabs.com)

As you can tell we’ve been busy. We’re going to have a lot more to announce over the coming months and for 2010 we’re going to do our best to keep you up to date.

Thanks for your continued support!

Best,
Dave and the Assured Labor team