Springshot raises $1.6M to turn service work into a mobile game

Yet another startup in the “bring your own device” movement has raised money.

Springshot filed with the SEC for a $1.6 million first round of funding. Springshot is a “mobile worker productivity platform” that supports people who work on-the-go.

The company has built mobile applications that deliver training, work schedules, and assignments to service employees.  The product is intended for service workers in the commercial aviation, hospitality, janitorial, and private security sectors, where the jobs can be isolating and physically demanding. Springshot’s goal is to motivate these employees in a mobile, social, gamified environment. The platform tracks performance through scorecards, leaderboards, and sortable statistics. It turns work into a game in an effort to stimulate productivity and employee well-being. Springshot also includes a social network that helps remote workers feel like part of a community.

Using this system, service companies can direct workers through the day, collect and shares performance data, prepare workers for their jobs, connect workers to their organization, and streamline the recruiting process.

“The work environment is changing dramatically,” the company said on its site. “As industries eliminate scores of human resources and supervisory personnel to stay afloat, the top-down organization structure is reaching a breaking point with fewer leaders to run daily operations, managers cannot adequately train and mentor frontline workers. With limited resources and support, today’s service workers have little motivation to perform. More than ever, service companies must leverage mobile technology to maintain a competitive advantage. ”

Mobile enterprise/productivity products are popular at the moment as employees increasingly use their smartphones for work. Companies are realizing the need to give their employees solutions that allow them to work effectively from their phones.  Former Yammer execs released a mobile messaging app for the enterprise called CoTap last week, and startups like Double Dutch and Taptera, as well as big companies like Salesforce are building solutions, to respond to the BYOD movement. Springshot’s niche is the service industry.

Cofounder and CEO Doug Kreuzkamp previously worked as the senior vice president of operations at aviation services provider Air Serv Corporation where he created the company’s legal department. In this role, he developed mobile workforce solutions and found the idea for Springshot. His cofounder Eric Phelan worked at Lehman Brothers before leaving to work with a leading population geneticist on research projects.

Adam DeVito and George Landegger are listed as directors on the filing. DeVito founded Super Better Labs and serves as President of Big Band strategy, as well as principal of big BOING. Springshot is based in San Francisco. The company has not yet responded to request for comment.

Photo Credit: NBC Photo: Mitchell Haaseth/Scrubs