Trusted, a job-matching service for nurses, nets $149 million

The funding includes a $94 million Series C round led by venture firm Greenspring Associates, which was acquired by private-markets investment firm StepStone Group Inc. in September. It also includes a previously unannounced $55 million Series B round led by Craft Ventures and Felicis Ventures.

San Francisco-based Trusted has raised $175 million since it was founded in 2017.

Trusted said demand for its services rose early in the coronavirus pandemic, when hospitals had an influx of patients. Revenue totaled $22 million in the first quarter of 2020, compared with $28 million for all of 2019, the company said.

Trusted isn’t profitable, said co-founder and Chief Executive Lennie Sliwinski, adding that the company is investing in research and development.

The startup focuses on travel nurses, who work short-term stints in hospitals or clinics, but also places nurses for positions including home healthcare and long-term care.

Nurses can use Trusted’s software platform to create a profile with their qualifications and certifications and Trusted then uses algorithms to match them with appropriate jobs. Users can also get career advice from other nurses.

When Trusted makes a job match, it is paid by the hospital and then pays the nurses. Trusted earns revenue by taking a fee on the transaction.

The financing will help Trusted roll out a new product that helps employers create shift schedules by using a model that automatically incorporates internal and external staff into one system. The tool determines the most efficient way to create the schedule.

Demand for Trusted’s services was lifted by a surge in coronavirus cases last winter and, more recently, the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, Mr. Sliwinski said.

“Even with the latest wave waning across the country, we continue to see a record number of jobs posted by employers every week, indicative of growing demand for healthcare services more broadly," Mr. Sliwinski said.

Trusted’s ability to parlay the demand it has experienced during the pandemic into growth more broadly is a key test for the company. The pandemic exacerbated staffing challenges in the healthcare industry that Trusted has been trying to help solve, Mr. Sliwinski said. Demand for intensive-care nurses was particularly high during surges of Covid-19 cases, he said, adding that demand by specialization has now returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Niki Pezeshki, a general partner at Felicis Ventures, said the demand for Trusted’s services during the pandemic hasn’t factored into his firm’s decision to invest because it believes the startup will help solve problems in healthcare that existed before the pandemic. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture firm helps guide Trusted’s strategy, Mr. Pezeshki said.

Trusted’s competitors include publicly traded healthcare staffing companies AMN Healthcare Services Inc. and Cross Country Healthcare Inc., as well as startups Incredible Health Inc. and Nomad Health Inc.