Bailador backs volunteer management platform Rosterfy

Tech-focused capital fund Bailador (ASX: BTI) has invested close to $10 million in volunteer management platform Rosterfy, which provides workforce rostering software to not-for-profits (NFP).

Co-founded by Bennett Merriman, Shannan Gove and Chris Grant, Melbourne-headquartered Rosterfy was launched in 2015 and now helps customers in more than 20 countries manage more than 1.5 million volunteers.

The tech platform enables organisations to recruit, screen, train and schedule their volunteer workforce, replacing manual processes with automation, empowering heightened engagement and workforce retention.

In addition to servicing NFPs, Rosterfy’s software was used to manage volunteer workforces at major global events including the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the 2023 Superbowl in Arizona, and last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Australian NFP customers include Lifeline Australia and the St Vincent de Paul Society, while in the UK the British Heart Foundation uses Rosterfy to engage and manage its 38,000 volunteers across 730-plus charity stores and fundraising events each year.

“This investment from Bailador will allow us to capitalise on the strong product-market fit we are experiencing and accelerate our efforts in product innovation, international expansion and continuing to connect the global volunteer community,” Rosterfy co-founder and CEO Bennett Merriman said.

“We are excited to leverage Bailador’s experience in successfully scaling Australian-born SaaS businesses globally and welcome both David Kirk and Michael Hayes to the Rosterfy board.

“This is the start of the next exciting chapter of our growth and timely acknowledgement that our global team and platform are making a real impact.”

Bailador co-founder and managing partner David Kirk said the firm was excited to back the ‘market-leading’ tech developed by Rosterfy.

“Having worked with multiple NFP organisations myself, I recognise the important role that volunteers play in enabling NFPs to deliver on their mission, as well as the challenge of being able to hire, schedule and retain those volunteers,” Kirk said.

“The Rosterfy team have developed a market-leading volunteer management solution that has found strong product-market fit, which is evident in their strong growth rates and the quality of the customers they have acquired.

“We’re excited to be partnering with the Rosterfy team as they accelerate their global growth plans and continue to execute on their mission to connect communities to events and causes they are passionate about.”

The announcement comes nearly a month after Bailador completed a $10 million follow-on investment in InstantScripts – a digital healthcare platform that connects Australians to care and routine prescription services.

The company’s investment was accompanied by participation from a third party institutional investor and resulted in a 30 per cent uplift to the valuation of Bailador’s existing stake in InstantScripts which now stands at $41.8 million.

In addition to Rosterfy and InstantScripts, Bailador’s portfolio includes the likes of hotel channel management solution SiteMinder, data platform Instaclustr, social marketing tech Stackla, translations tool Stracker Translations, men’s health site Mosh and more.

Shares in BTI are up 2.98 per cent to $1.21 per share at 11.22am AEDT.