Trayd Secures $10 Million Series A Funding
Trayd, a startup building a back office operating system for the construction industry, has raised $10 million in Series A funding, according to Crunchbase News. White Star Capital led the round, which was completed in just three weeks and included participation from repeat backers Y Combinator and Suffolk Technologies, as well as a new investment from strategic backer RXR Realty. This funding brings Trayd’s total funding to $17 million.
Company Origins and Leadership
Co-founder and CEO Anna Berger, who grew up in a New York construction family, started Trayd in 2021 with co-founder and CTO Cara Kessler, who previously spent 10 years as LinkedIn’s web platform lead. Berger drew from her experiences observing the operational challenges in construction, such as managing union rules and multistate labor laws. Trayd targets specialty trade contractors, including concrete crews, electricians, plumbers, ironworkers, painters, and fireproofing, distinguishing them from general contractors who oversee projects.
Product Features and Market Position
Trayd automates payroll, HR, compliance, and labor cost tracking, providing real-time visibility into costs of labor, equipment, and materials. The platform reduces the time for weekly payroll and compliance processes from 14 hours of manual work to under 30 minutes, according to Crunchbase News. Trayd addresses the complexity of compensation in construction, where workers might earn multiple pay rates in a single day based on trade tasks, project scope, and jurisdiction, setting it apart from competitors like ADP, Paychex, Miter, and Lumber.
Growth and Expansion Efforts
Trayd has achieved over 600% year-over-year revenue growth and processes tens of millions of payroll dollars weekly, with several hundred contractors using the service. Customers include United General Contractors, Wohl Diversified Services, and Titan Structural Group. Operating on a SaaS model with pricing tied to the number of workers, Trayd began in New York and the Northeast due to high union density and regulatory complexity, and is now expanding nationally with about two dozen employees. Before Trayd, Berger co-founded Curtn, a now-defunct consumer social platform.
