Serent-Backed Avionté Acquires SimpleVMS Creating the Industry’s First Platform to Manage Contingent Labor Workflows Across Employer, Staffing Agency, and Talent

Serent-Backed Avionté Acquires SimpleVMS Creating the Industry’s First Platform to Manage Contingent Labor Workflows Across Employer, Staffing Agency, and Talent

August 1, 2023

Avionté, a leader in enterprise staffing and recruiting software, announced it acquired SimpleVMS, a vendor management system (VMS) for mid-to-large employers with a strong clerical and light industrial (CLI) customer base. SimpleVMS will operate as a division of Avionté under the leadership of Jason Oswald, who will remain as president of SimpleVMS and serve as a member of Avionté’s executive committee. 

The deal represents the first significant merger of a staffing platform with a VMS solution in North America, signaling the convergence of these separate but related software categories. According to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2022 report, VMS adoption by large employers has grown from just over 50% in 2009 to 80% in 2022, with the expectation that mid-market employers will rapidly follow suit. However, poor data integration between VMS and staffing platforms has led to time delays, duplicate data entry, and data discrepancies that create barriers for staffing agencies to effectively support employers.  

“Avionté staffing customers will now be able to solve the biggest issues associated with the flow of job requisitions from employer to staffing agency to talent and back,” said Rishabh Mehrotra, CEO of Avionté. “Time delays directly impact agency profitability and customer retention. Our combined solution will enable staffing companies to fill jobs rapidly while building a deeper strategic relationship with their employer clients.”   

The genesis of the Avionté and SimpleVMS deal emerged, in part, because of SimpleVMS’ strong reputation with both employers and staffing agencies. “The founders of SimpleVMS have deep roots in the staffing industry and recognized the opportunity to enhance collaboration between employers and staffing agencies across the entire supply chain of labor. Its rapid growth has been fueled through referrals and channel partnerships with staffing companies, making them the preferred vendor to their employer customers,” Mehrotra added.  

With this acquisition, Avionté’s digital footprint combines a VMS offering for employers, an end-to-end staffing platform that acts as a single system of record for staffing agencies, and a mobile talent platform where individual talent can find, apply, and schedule work assignments, as well as receive pay from their mobile phone.  

“We now have the opportunity to create a seamless data integration that can push an employer’s requisition to the staffing agency and the talent’s mobile phone in near real-time,” said Jason Oswald, CEO and Co-Founder of SimpleVMS. “This eliminates redundant data entry for staffing agencies while improving overall collaboration and responsiveness.” 

Avionté’s acquisition of SimpleVMS will facilitate substantial benefits for all stakeholders, including the ability to harmonize data integration between VMS, ATS, timekeeping, payroll, and invoicing – successfully eliminating duplicate workflows, redundant data entry, and billing discrepancies. 

  • For staffing agencies, there’s a compelling rationale to support VMS integration, especially one that combines the strengths of Avionté and SimpleVMS to deliver a highly competitive solution that enhances collaboration around data and demand. This will create stronger strategic partnerships with employers and a more robust and transparent flow of requisitions to talent. 
  • Employers seeking an effective solution to manage their temporary and contingent labor spend will find the solution allows them to work in close coordination with staffing agencies to create and manage supply chains of labor – optimizing for cost, quality, continuity of service, responsiveness, and ability to scale. 
  • Talent linked to the staffing agency through their mobile talent platform will be able to see new job opportunities and shift schedules in a digital marketplace that ensures stability of employment over time and encourages a consistent relationship with a single staffing agency. 

“In the workplace of the future, the status quo is not sustainable. Employers will increasingly depend on contingent labor to support their full-time workers in core operations. This integrated solution will enable employers and staffing companies to create a true on-demand supply chain of labor,” stated Mehrotra.

About SimpleVMS 

SimpleVMS is a vendor-neutral vendor management system (VMS) developed by staffing industry professionals to enhance the relationships between clients and their staffing partners. The cutting-edge platform delivers complete workforce visibility and streamlined workflows, providing everything from job order management to invoicing and analytics, paired with an integrated timekeeping solution. More than software, SimpleVMS provides the hands-on support that employers and agencies depend on to manage their variable labor programs. For more information, visit https://simplevms.com. 

About Avionté 

Avionté is a leader in enterprise staffing and recruiting software solutions, offering innovative end-to-end technology solutions to nearly 1,000 customers and 25,000 users throughout the U.S. and Canada. Avionté delivers a robust platform for clerical, light industrial, IT, and professional staffing firms to maximize profits and boost productivity. With powerful ATS, billing, and payroll solutions, including the first paycard designed specifically for the staffing industry, Avionté provides the technology every staffing firm can use to scale and grow their business. Learn more at https://www.avionte.com. 

Serent Capital invests in growing businesses that have developed compelling solutions that address their customers' needs. As those businesses grow and evolve, the opportunities and challenges that they face change with them. Principals at Serent Capital have firsthand experience at capturing those opportunities and navigating these difficulties through their experiences as CEOs, strategic advisors, and board members to successful growing businesses. By bringing its expertise and capital to bear, Serent seeks to help growing businesses thrive. Learn more about our portfolio companies.

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