Zinc raises $5M to empower deskless teams

It would be easy to lump Zinc, founded three years by two former Yammer employees, together with Slack, Atlassian, and the dozens of other software companies hawking team communication and messaging apps.

But Stacey Epstein, the former SAP and ServiceMax executive who took over Zinc (formerly CoTap) in January, is selling her mobile messaging app to a much different audience. Most of her software's users don't have desks. Their "offices" are trucks, delivery vehicles, or far-flung job sites. We're talking about almost 20 million people, or 80% of the U.S. workforce. ServiceMax, another field service software company, estimates the revenue potential for this market at $18 billion.

"Texting and consumer messaging apps have quickly become the way most of us communicate-they're easy, short, fast and accessible for nearly everyone," Epstein said. "Yes most communications tools for business are exactly the opposite-noisy and decidedly not built for mobile."

Like a version of the WhatsApp messaging app, only meant for business communications rather than chats among consumers, Zinc's software is used by about "70 paying enterprise customers" so far, including hospitality company Hyatt and home automation services company Vivint. But the San Francisco-based startup last week received a $5 million early-stage infusion, co-led by Emergence Capital Partners and Charles River Ventures, to expand its sales resources.

Zinc started as a texting tool for co-workers in a company's employee directory but the service is now tightly coupled with other widely used cloud software applications. For example, Zinc's users can securely share documents or records from cloud services sold by Asana, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Trello. They can also track social commentary posted on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Or, they can use the app like a walkie-talkie to make quick voice calls.

Before rolling it out to approximately 1,200 service technicians earlier this year, Vivint tested the software with about 50 people, said Jim Dellinger, vice president of field service.The software enables Vivint to communicate new service requests or process changes to the field more quickly than in the past. Previously, these workers were forced to use ad hoc communications methods.

Most People Still Communicate Via Text Messaging

"It is super easy for someone to notify a team if there's an issue happening," says Dellinger. "In the past, they would have had to contact a supervisor. Now, they're able to get responses more quickly."

Along the way, an unintended use popped up. "Employees began to use it as a social platform," says Dellinger. "There was camaraderie, team building."

Three of the biggest names in business software are talking up field service apps, including Salesforce , which launched a push in March; Oracle , through its acquisition of TOA Technologies; and Microsoft , which bought its way into the category in July 2015.

Zinc is clearly much smaller, but its focus purely on mobile apps for field workers-and not on an array of other cloud software applications-makes the company's sales pitch much simpler to digest.

When service technicians from Vivint Smart Home, the Utah-based tech company that installs home automation equipment like video-enabled doorbells and smart thermostats for customers across the U.S., are out in the field and need to talk to each other, they don't send a text or fire up the mobile version of messaging app Slack. Instead, they open up Zinc on their smartphones to request additional tools and help from fellow technicians geographically close to them.

"It's like a consumer app on steroids. But it also has all the security and control that enterprises need to deploy," says Zinc CEO Stacey Epstein.

New Name, New Strategy

Founded as Cotap in 2013 by Jim Patterson and Zack Parker, two alumni of enterprise social networking service Yammer, the San Francisco-based startup has made some big changes of late. In the beginning of June, the company relaunched as Zinc, a name change that coincides with a shift in sales strategy from a freemium model to a free trial plan. It also hired Epstein as CEO to shepherd the company's new go-to-market strategy.

The only screen [service technicians] ever look at is their phone or tablet, but trying to deploy a solution that's been built for desktop employees to mobile just doesn't work. It's not the right interface. - Stacey Epstein

For Epstein, whose background is in marketing - as chief marketing officer for ServiceMax, she helped launch the publication you're currently reading - stepping into the CEO role is a change of pace. But what Zinc needs now is a whole new way of selling itself to a market saturated with other messaging apps.

"Cotap basically was a texting app for businesses and the go-to-market strategy was a freemium model ... but the better go-to-market strategy is a direct paid selling model targeting larger enterprises," she says. "It's a complete shift in strategy, which is the reason I came on board."

Fit for the Field

Messaging apps like Yammer and Slack are not new concepts, but they're more often employed for desktop workers: people who will be in front of a computer most of the day and need a quick way to talk to their teams. Field technicians, on the other hand, need a specialized app to bridge what Epstein calls the "deskless divide."

"The only screen they ever look at is their phone or tablet, but trying to deploy a solution that's been built for desktop employees to mobile just doesn't work. It's not the right interface," Epstein says.

She argues that the right interface is Zinc: "It's the mobile-first interface that deskless workers like field service technicians need with lots of bells and whistles: audio, video, group calling, location sharing, file sharing."

Functionality on the Fly

For Vivint's field service techs, that functionality on the fly is key, not to mention an easy way for techs to inform corporate what buyers think of Vivint's smart home tech.

For Zinc, which also raised $5 million in Series A funding last month to bring its total venture capital funding to $15.5 million, that functionality is what it will highlight as it moves existing customers from freemium to a free trial model and seeks to add to its already 10,000-strong client list. It's a challenge Epstein is eagerly embracing.

"It's a great product with a big market opportunity, and it's a little bit outside the Silicon Valley bubble of building technology and then selling it to technology workers," she says, emphasizing that field technicians are often overlooked. "I love the departure from that kind of Silicon Valley."

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 7, 2016) - Today, Zinc, a communications technology company for industries that depend on workforces outside of offices, announced a $5 million funding round co-led by Emergence Capital Partners and Charles River Ventures (CRV). Zinc also released its new mobile messaging platform to provide instant communication for companies in industries like retail, hospitality, medicine, and field service. Up-to-date information is essential for workers in these industries, but front-line employees often use unsecure consumer apps or a patchwork of different enterprise tools to stay connected. Zinc bridges the gap between the home office and the field with a single, secure platform for both mobile and desktop, empowering mobile workers by instantly getting them the information they need to do the best job possible, no matter where they are.

Zinc, formerly known as Cotap, reorganized and launched its new product under the leadership of new CEO Stacey Epstein. Epstein has more than two decades of SaaS experience leading teams and improving how people work, both as head of marketing at SuccessFactors and as CMO at ServiceMax. Most recently, she was chief marketing officer at Banjo, where she helped launch the company's enterprise products.

Zinc's platform has features purpose-built for companies with workers in the field, including:

• Text, voice and video messaging. Easy person-to-person and group text messaging, along with one-click VOIP calling and video conferencing.
• Instant alerts and communication. Give workers the information they need, right away with push alerts to groups or individuals, read receipts and person-to-person "walkie-talkie" voice calling.
• Security and compliance. Simple administration tools give IT departments control over usage without having to worry about unsecured data and information. Zinc is also HIPAA, TRUSTe, FIPS 140-2, and SOC 2 compliant, among other certifications.
• File sharing, location sharing, integrations, and bots. Quickly send important files and connect Zinc to the services workers rely on to get their jobs done.

"Texting and consumer messaging apps have quickly become the way most of us communicate -- they're easy, short, fast and accessible for nearly everyone. Yet most communication tools for business are the exact opposite -- noisy, and decidedly not built for mobile," Epstein said. "Zinc gives businesses a tool that combines the best of both worlds. It's a fast, easy and feature-rich user experience that deskless and mobile workers demand, combined with the security and enterprise administration that enterprises require."

Vivint, a leading smart home technology provider, uses Zinc to give the company a single platform for communication between management and technicians in the field.

"Having worked in field service for the past 15 years, I've seen firsthand how valuable free-flowing communication can be for a company," said Jim Dellinger, VP of Field Service at Vivint. "From quick exchanges to safety & alerts to customer feedback, Zinc's ability to streamline how information travels through our company has completely changed how we communicate from the field to the office."

"There's a tremendous gap in communication technology that's purpose-built for mobile and deskless workers. Zinc perfectly fills that gap," said Jason Green, General Partner at Emergence Capital.

"Zinc has an enormous opportunity to solve some big problems for a lot of companies and their employees," added George Zachary, General Partner at CRV. "It will be fun to watch them get to work."

Get your teams in Zinc now with a free trial. www.zinc.it.

Zinc is a San Francisco-based company connecting deskless and mobile workers with their colleagues both inside and outside the office. Zinc combines a full-featured mobile messaging platform that employees love to use with the security and administrative features that businesses need. Backed by Charles River Ventures and Emergence Capital Partners, Zinc has raised $5 million as part of its mission to inform and empower workers in industries underserved by technology. For more information, visit the website and follow @Zinc on Twitter.

A new CEO, a new name and a fresh $5 million of funding - it's a time of change for the San Francisco messaging start-up formerly known as Cotap.

Cotap was founded in 2013 by two Yammer alumni, Jim Patterson and Zack Parker, with a pitch of being a WhatsApp for the enterprise. The basic principle was to provide a mobile messaging service that could be used across an entire organization, "from breakroom to boardroom" as the company website puts it.

Since launch, the company has been using its $15.5 million of funding to date to add features and functionality to the initial offering, including integrations with the likes of Box, Dropbox and Google Drive. This focus on functionality has been a logical development given Patterson's pedigree as Chief Product Officer and Parker's role as Senior Director of Engineering at Yammer, before it was acquired for $1.2 billion by Microsoft.

The firm now has around 40 employees and claims a customer base of "more than 10,000 businesses around the world". That doesn't provide a specific number of users, but client names in the public domain include Dave's Coffee and Hyatt. The company has operated on a freemium model to date.

So far, so good - but maybe not good enough to get to the next stage. Three years on from launch, the company's at a point where it needs to take a different go-to-market strategy in the increasingly competitive collaboration and communications market. The firm stakes a claim to a differentiator in pitching its wares at "industries that depend on workforces outside of offices". That's a story that it now needs to be telling more robustly.

Phase 2

Hence the announcement today of a re-brand from Cotap - which does sound a bit like a home-brew beer company - to Zinc, a play on the periodic table, with the idea that information should be regarded as an element. The firm has also won a fresh round of funding, led by Emergence Capital Partners and Charles River Ventures (CRV), early backers of Yammer.

But the biggest change is the appointment of a new CEO, one with a marketing background rather than a product development one. Stacey Epstein was Head of Marketing at SuccessFactors, then Chief Marketing Officer at both ServiceMax and Banjo, and it's her task to relaunch the former Cotap offering into an enterprise future.

I've known Epstein for a good few years, so took the chance to catch up with her in San Francisco to ask how Zinc thinks it can capture an enterprise audience in a market seemingly dominated by Slack.

Wrong question, it seems. Epstein is adamant:

Everyone wants to talk about Slack. We're not replacing Slack.

The argument here is that Slack is a great internal email replacement, whereas what Zinc aims to be is a messaging tool for workers who aren't sitting at desks with the likes of Slack open in front of them. It's significant, for example, that one of the opportunities that Zinc sees is in the walkie-talkie replacement market.

It's also about addressing what Epstein positions as "the deskless divide". She elaborates:

Comms and collaboration technologies have been around a while. You've got Slack, GoToMeeting, Yammer, Chatter, almost entirely focused on desktop workers. For example, Slack was founded for engineering teams to work collaboratively.

But 80% of the workforce in the US is deskless. Those workers are not sitting in front of computers and probably not collaborating too much, but if you look at field service, at hospitality, at hotels, at retail, you see people out in the field doing a job. They're not necessarily working collaboratively, but they do need to share information. They need to be able to communicate really quickly, but these are workers who have largely been ignored by the comms and collaboration vendors.

These people are not in front of desks, they're in front of customers, at the point of revenue. We're talking about deskless workers who have never been connected to their organizations by technology. But they all have phones. They all text. They end up taking their consumer apps to work. So you have usage of WhatsApp within the enterprise, with people using it all the time, but this is a tool that was not build for the enterprise.

What becomes problematic here then are issues involving enterprise levels of security, compliance and governance. Epstein cites the example of a company which services security machines at airports, where workers are communicating via WhatsApp and discussing which security machines at airports are broken at given times. She also points to a coffee chain where store managers have to share their personal phone numbers so that they can communicate with one another.

People just like texting, says Epstein:

We recently sold our dining room table on Craigslist and you can tick the 'text me' box to get in touch. I did and everyone who was interested in buying the table texted me. Text is just the preferred mode of communication for everything you do, but enterprises haven't worked out how to manage it.

So the focus is on phones for the moment, although Epstein cites the example of a hotel chain that's given iPods to its housemaids to use for messaging and shaved millions off of the comms budget in the process. No more walkie-talkies in the corridors.

To date, the freemium model has been the go-to-market strategy, although with an eye to IT's governance role, the firm is quick to flag up that it is HIPAA, TRUSTe, FIPS 140-2, and SOC 2 compliant. But that 'let's go viral' approach needs to be tempered if the firm's enterprise ambitions are to be met. Epstein says:

We don't want to lose the virality of the freemium, but this is enterprise SaaS, so we're moving from freemium to free trial. We're aiming at the middle space between really viral and really strict license. We're going to be open and flexible once you're in a trial. Anyone can be invited to join that, but it will be most sucessful when you have someone who is managing the group.

There is some change management stuff you'll want to think about. Implementations are most successful when we sit down for half a day with new users and help set up the administration for groups. If there are 5000 users in a company, there's the danger that this could become a never-ending chat room, so you're going to want to have an administrative role in place.

My take

Telling your story is something that all start-ups need to get their heads around. I'm minded of the 1990s relational database wars between Oracle and Ingres. A common view at the time was that Ingres was by far the more functionally-rich product, but, as one Oracle marketing person once quipped, the company's engineering-centric culture would have led it to market sushi as cold, raw fish. The rest is relational history.

With three years of product development under its belt, this is a good time for Zinc to start selling sushi. There's clearly a market opportunity around the idea of the 'deskless divide' and I can see that IT management and corporate governance executives would be interested in the idea of something that enables them to wean employees off using consumer apps in the workplace.

The challenge will be to position the firm as an enterprise alternative in a market with Slack in the ascendency. Epstein's point about not being out to be a Slack replacement is well made, but that's a message that will need to be drummed home hard. Overall, this is one to keep a close eye on in the months ahead.