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LaborHack
Techstars '22Lagos, NG · Founded 2020 · 9 employees on LinkedIn · 2 known investors
Find your way into LaborHack
LaborHack connects businesses with verified skilled tradespeople across 50+ trades, offering job posting, recruitment, project delivery, and facilities management services. It also provides an API for developers to integrate facilities management and maintenance request workflows directly into their systems.
Also known as Laborhack
Investors · 2
How we know: Future Africa's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026LaborHack operates an online marketplace that gives construction businesses, facility managers and individual homeowners on-demand access to trained, tested and vetted skilled workers. The platform covers trades including plumbing, welding, air-conditioning repair, carpentry, masonry, painting and solar installation, and packages its offering into service lines for construction, maintenance, facility management and installations, alongside consumer-facing home maintenance subscription plans.
Workers who join the platform are onboarded as "LaborHack Pros" after a vetting and certification process benchmarked against the UK Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) standard. The company reports that certified artisans also receive soft-skills training and access to migration and education loan support for Canada. LaborHack handles client communication, job matching and payment on behalf of artisans. In addition to labour supply, it runs a Buy Now Pay Later tool financing product launched with Grooming Microfinance Bank, financing up to 80% of the cost of power tools and equipment with 3-to-6-month repayment terms and a 20% worker down payment.
The company is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, at Dominion House, Igbosere Road, Lagos Island, and is listed by Techstars as a pre-seed stage company with 11-50 employees, founded in 2020.
Founding story
The company was founded in 2020 according to the Techstars portfolio listing; a company blog post states the platform launched in 2019. It is led by CEO Oare Ehiemua-Ochui and CTO Patrick Oladimeji.
Business model
LaborHack intermediates between demand for skilled trade labour (construction firms, facility management companies, offices, SMEs and homeowners) and a vetted supply of certified artisans, taking on client communication, matching, quality confirmation and worker payment. Adjacent lines include artisan certification, household maintenance subscription plans and tool financing offered with a microfinance bank partner.
Revenue is associated with marketplace intermediation of artisan jobs and projects for businesses and homeowners, plus subscription plans for home maintenance; a tool financing product is offered in partnership with Grooming Microfinance Bank.
Traction
The blog reports a network of over 4,500 skilled artisans as of August 2024 and more than 1,000 ID-verified skilled workers on the platform. Recent growth is attributed in part to a partnership with sister company OPL Academy, which has roughly 2,000 workers across electrical, plumbing, carpentry, welding and AC trades.
Latest developments
As of August 2024 the company reported more than 4,500 artisans on the platform, a partnership with sister company OPL Academy, and the rollout of its Buy Now Pay Later tool financing product with Grooming Microfinance Bank. It stated it had raised $320,000 to date and was seeking $500,000 in a pre-seed round.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Positioned as a prominent online marketplace for hiring artisans in Nigeria with a concentration in Lagos, serving construction, real estate and facility management clients.
LaborHack emphasises identity verification and a competitive certification process for artisans, with international certificates benchmarked to the UK ECITB standard, plus supporting services such as tool financing and migration/education loan support for artisans seeking to work in Canada.
Technology
A digital platform handles artisan sign-up, vetting, certification records, job matching and payment workflows, with client-facing products segmented for artisans, businesses and homeowners.
Go-to-market
The company markets directly to businesses through service lines (construction, maintenance, facility management, installations) and to consumers through home maintenance subscriptions, while recruiting artisans via an online sign-up and certification funnel. It has used industry events and conferences for visibility, including the Big 5 Construct exhibition, Collision in Toronto, Lagos Startup Week and Africa Growth Con 1.0.
Construction companies, real estate and facility management firms, offices and SMEs requiring installations and maintenance, and individual homeowners; on the supply side, Nigerian skilled artisans such as plumbers, electricians, welders, carpenters, masons, painters, solar and AC technicians.
Geography
Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with operations concentrated in Lagos (locations listed include Iju, Aja, Ojodu and Agege) and a listed US address in Wilmington, Delaware.
History
LaborHack graduated from the Techstars Toronto 2022 Winter Cohort as one of nine African startups in that class, and was named among 40 World Summit Award winners in 2022, recognised at the WSA Global Congress held in Puebla, Mexico in March 2023. In 2023 its CTO represented the company at the Collision Conference in Toronto and its CEO spoke at Lagos Startup Week and at the inaugural Africa Growth Con 1.0. The company later introduced home maintenance subscription plans, a tool financing product with Grooming Microfinance Bank, and exhibited at the Big 5 Construct event.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 1
by search overlap
Companies competing with LaborHack for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsA company blog post states LaborHack has raised $320,000 from investors including Techstars and Future Africa and is seeking to raise $500,000 for a pre-seed round.
$320K source ↗
LaborHack partnered with Grooming Microfinance Bank to offer artisans up to 80% financing on power tools and equipment, repayable over 3 to 6 months with a 20% down payment.
LaborHack attributes recent traction in part to a partnership with sister company OPL Academy, which has about 2,000 workers including electricians, plumbers, carpenters, welders and AC technicians.
LaborHack launched subscription plans aimed at helping homeowners maintain and clean their living spaces.
CTO Patrick Oladimeji represented LaborHack at the 2023 Collision Conference in Toronto, Canada.
CEO Oare Ehiemua-Ochui spoke on team-building and fundraising at the 2023 Lagos Startup Week.
LaborHack showcased its skilled worker marketplace at the Big 5 Construct event.
The company announced it had ID-verified more than 1,000 skilled workers on its platform.
LaborHack was recognised as a World Summit Award winner, with the WSA Global Congress held March 8-11, 2023 in Puebla, Mexico.
LaborHack was one of nine African startups to graduate from the Techstars Toronto 2022 Winter Cohort.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- COMPANY UPDATES Archives - LaborHack's Blogblog.laborhack.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does LaborHack do?
- Nigerian digital marketplace connecting construction, facility management and household clients with vetted, certified skilled artisans.
- Who are LaborHack's investors?
- LaborHack's investors include Future Africa, Techstars.
- Where is LaborHack headquartered?
- LaborHack is headquartered in Lagos, NG.