HireAthena launches on-demand HR platform

Spinning off from BackOps and Scalus, new platform lets small businesses hire accountants on-demand

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Is it finally time for an on-demand back office?

The team behind HireAthena, a company spun off of back office platforms BackOps and Scalus, firmly believes so, as the platform is officially emerging from stealth this week.

HireAthena is an accounting and HR platform offered to small businesses through a monthly subscription, with the price of that subscription based on the size of the business and scope of needs. If needed, HireAthena can handle payroll, benefits, FSA and 401k management, accounting, bookkeeping, monthly financials, and taxes.

Remarkably, HireAthena relies on a work-from-home, on-demand workforce of accountants to power its platform.

It’s easy to see how on-demand technology is a perfect fit for matching buyers with drivers, handymen, and other “unskilled” labor. But does it make sense in the context of work that requires a certain level of education?

Increasingly, the growing gig economy is proving that the answer is yes. While the first, most obvious positions in this area may have been writers and other creative workers, the launch of HireAthena takes us one step closer to a world where anyone in any kind of position can be hired on-demand.

In a unique twist in the on-demand labor market, HireAthena offers its professional workforce the best of both worlds: they receive a competitive salary, 401(k), and medical/dental/vision insurance, but they can also work from home. Right now, the company is hiring controllers (in Sacramento, CA and Indianapolis, IN) and accounting managers (in both those cities as well as Cincinnati, OH). The reason for the location-specific hiring is to make it easier for HireAthena to scale hiring and training of these workers. There's also the added benefit of having a local team to connect with.

“We’re committed to the idea that employees are loyal if we’re loyal to employees, even if you’re part-time,” said Kristen Koh Goldstein, founder and CEO of HireAthena, in a phone interview with Vator.

With the photo of a smiling woman, precious baby on her lap, at the top of HireAthena’s hiring page, it’s clear the company knows who they want to hire: mothers. Goldstein confirmed for me that the company is dedicated to its mission of “bringing a million moms back to work.”

“Our mission wouldn’t be taken seriously unless we were profitable,” she said. “This is not a charitable organization. We’re employing moms and dads in order to provide a very affordable service to small businesses.”

Customers of the company include AngelList, Womply, SASB, and Keating Consulting Group. And Goldstein says the company will be profitable later this year.

“[HireAthena provides] non-profit accounting expertise and led us through several successful audits,” said SASB COO Matthew Welch in a prepared statement. “We couldn't afford this level of talent in-house.”

While HireAthena hasn’t raised any funds for its specific venture, Backops and Scalus raised approximately $12 million in total funding from Sherpa Capital, Google Ventures, e.ventures, DCVC, CrunchFund, and angel investors Naval Ravikant, Max Levchin, and Mark Pincus.