Relay raises $36M from investors to fuel its growth
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A hotel employee wears Relay's communication device on her waist. Photo: Courtesy of Relay
Relay, a Raleigh-based startup making smart communication tools for frontline workers, has raised $36 million from investors, the company told Axios.
Why it matters: Relay, which spun out of fellow Raleigh tech company Bandwidth, has been one of the fastest-growing startups in the Triangle in recent years.
- The new funding will help it continue that growth, with plans to hire around 100 workers over the next year, according to Chris Chuang, the company's CEO.
Driving the news: The funding round is being led by one of Relay's largest customers, International Paper. Other investors include Cerity Partners and G2 Venture Partners.
How it works: Relay makes a smart walkie-talkie that enables managers to communicate with workers remotely. Because it is connected to the internet, it can also provide real-time location data and insights.
- The tool has proven useful in fields like hospitality, with hotel workers using them between floors, as well as in health care, education and manufacturing, Chuang said.
- Relay's device, which includes smartphone app integrations, can also do real-time language translation between workers and serve as a safety alert if a team member needs immediate assistance.
Zoom in: Relay now has around 300 employees, growing so fast in recent years that it outgrew its space in the Advance Auto Parts tower in North Hills. It now subleases space at Bandwidth's headquarters near Lenovo Center.
- The company has now raised $90 million from investors since it was founded in 2015 as Republic Wireless. The company declined to say what it is valued at after this funding round, but PitchBook pegged its last valuation at $369 million.
State of play: Chuang said that this funding round is about helping the company reach its next milestones, moving from a company that just offered a smart walkie-talkie that could replace a traditional Motorola to one that can help companies improve their AI capabilities.
- Chuang said its devices can be used to bring AI use cases to frontline workers while also collecting data that the companies can use to fine-tune operations or make decisions.
- It will also allow it to continue to invest in next-generation hardware that can be used in a variety of frontline situations like factories.
What they're saying: "It took a long time and a lot of money to build something that could compete with Motorola, who quietly, I would say, has a monopoly on the [frontline communication] industry," Chuang told Axios of the company's previous investment.
- "But what we always saw was if we could do that, we could be this device that connects these workers to the cloud and can be the vehicle for software and now AI," he added.