Justworks is looking to its future after closing a $50 million Series E investment.
"We're really excited about this. We had our pick of investors to bring in the capital from, and it's really important to us to surround the company with great people," Isaac Oates, founder and CEO of Justworks, told Cheddar Tuesday. "In terms of what we're focused on, it's really just continuing to expand our operational sophistication and our ability to serve more and more different types of customers."
The new investment is led by Union Square Ventures and FirstMark Capital, and it brings Justworks' total funding to $143 million.
Oates said there are about 85,000 people on the platform, which organizes and provides access to company benefits, payroll, HR tools, and more for small and medium-sized businesses.
Almost all revenue comes from subscription fees paid per employee per month. Oates said the company is currently at about $105 million annual revenue, and continuing to grow. He added the upcoming fiscal year will focus on generating cash.
As for whether Justworks will go after bigger businesses, Oates said the platform is keeping things small.
"While it's impossible to say forever, we are absolutely focused for the foreseeable future on small and medium businesses," Oates said. "We are passionate about them and we just want to make sure we're serving them the best we can."
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC. That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend — on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived. In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to the company’s own platforms, which come with their own price tags.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
