Communication is an intrinsic part of good business practices for companies, their employees, and their customers. Yet in many asset-intensive industries communication is sorely lacking. In many of these companies, “deskless employees” make up a large portion of their workforce. Deskless employees are simply those that don’t sit behind a desk, such as repair servicepeople, manufacturing workers, or retail representatives. Despite accounting for as much as 80% of the world’s workers, many find themselves not engaged by their employer. Consumers have similar issues. They must spend their time (and patience) to first go through a company to reach the service person they actually need. This process also costs the company money.

One company that believes it has the solution to these problems is goDeskless. Unlike some firms we encounter, goDeskless has a complex business model that requires time to understand. At its core, the firm positions itself as a special type of CRM (customer relationship management). Consumers download the app after the company they are seeking service from adopts it. From there, consumers can make appointments and communicate directly with the service provider. The goDeskless app cuts out the customer service agent/representative who would act as a middleman for that process.

Examples of communication methods include video chat, text chat, push notifications, geolocated related features, and more. Consumers can even see, in real time, where the service provider is and what they are doing. Management compares their product very much to Uber in terms of how it functions. However, the goDeskless product does much more than just that. The firm has a great deal of functionality built into its systems. The chief offering is its OneCloud solution.

OneCloud is really a mixture of three different cloud-based suites of functionality. The first of these is its Engagement Cloud. This part of the platform is set up to allow businesses the ability to provide native app functions that can be embedded into smart devices. Voice assistance on the platform is one important feature, as is the ability to allow users to chat with their service provider. The tracking and filing of incident reports also occurs through here. This particular set of features can be embedded into applications the service provider’s employer might be using.

The Data Cloud is the second suite of functionality championed by goDeskless. This particular piece centralizes information. It then turns that information into easy-to-consume data sets and provides the firm with unspecified predictive analytics. All of this occurs in real-time, with up-to-the-second data being beamed to the palm of any relevant user’s hand. The last suite is the company’s Enterprise Cloud, which offers clients microservices like data authentication. The service works offline, but when it does connect to the internet, it can sync what it has done with any applicable system administrator. Other offerings provided by goDeskless include its TrackHelp offering and its Field Service solution. Both of these empower the service provider with the tools and data needed to optimize his/her work schedule.

Since launching, goDeskless has partnered up with multiple firms. These include players like ServiceNow and Freshworks. Management hopes these relationships will result in these third-parties selling their software solutions for them. This isn’t the firm’s only go-to-market strategy though. The company also intends to white label its product for customers that are interested. Irrespective of this, they also want to sell directly to enterprises themselves. As of now, the plan is to keep goDeskless free to all consumers who will access their technology. But they do intend to charge license fees to the enterprises they work with.

So far, the financial progress generated by goDeskless has been impressive. In 2018, the company’s revenue totaled $487,649. This grew to $637,284 in 2019. Over the same timeframe, the company’s net loss of $9,702 turned into a net profit of $232,919. While both revenue and net income look bullish, the company’s operating cash flow did worsen. In 2018, the company’s operating cash flow was $195,184. That’s impressive for a firm as small as goDeskless. In 2019, however, this metric turned negative to the tune of $243,702. This is something that investors should keep an eye on, but it’s far from worrisome given the company’s growth and other financial figures.

In its own regulatory filings, the management team at goDeskless pegs its industry opportunity at around $27.5 billion by 2024. Our research suggests the space is probably a bit smaller than that. According to one source from a few years ago, the customer field engagement market was forecasted to grow to about $2.5 billion by this year. That same source estimated that it will see an annualized growth rate of about 10% through 2025. That would place the market opportunity at around $4.1 billion by the end of the forecast period.  As you will see, though, not every estimate is within the same ballpark.  

A second, more recent source we looked at found that the market is probably around $17.2 billion today. Its forecast is for growth of roughly 10.5% per annum, taking the industry up to $23.2 billion by 2023. Yet another source pegs the space at a considerably smaller $3.3 billion today, with annualized growth of 16.2% taking it to $5.9 billion by 2024. One segment of this market that warrants attention is the service analytics space. It should be worth around $711 million today. With annualized growth of 14.1%, it should expand to around $1.1 billion by 2023.

This is not to say that there couldn’t be more to this market than our data suggests. It all depends on how and where you look at. For instance, the broader customer experience platforms market is quite a bit larger. One source pegs it at about $7.5 billion today. The nearly 13% annualized growth rate of that market should translate to a size of $19.6 billion by 2028. This broader segment covers a lot that goDeskless does not emphasize today. But it could be indicative of a larger market opportunity if they decide to expand out from their initial target.

In order to continue growing the business, management at goDeskless is working hard to close another round of funding. Its goal is to raise up to $1.07 million by issuing a Crowd Note. However, it could close a round with as little as $50,000. The minimum investment amount is $100. Investments will convert at the company’s next valuation, subject to a $6 million valuation cap for the first $100,000 committed. For all cash allocated after the $100,000 mark, the firm will use a valuation cap of $7 million. A 20% discount also applies to the conversion. As of this writing, the company has received commitments totaling $126,182.

The core team of goDeskless currently consists of three individuals. The first two are Ashish Joshi and Hari Gutlapalli, the company’s co-founders. Joshi is presently serving as goDeskless’ CEO, and Gutlapalli is its Chief Architect. The third individual of note is Pramod Cherukumilli, the CTO at goDeskless. 

In the past, Joshi has held a number of roles, including Senior Director of Product Management at Oracle. He previously held the same position at InQuira, and before that he was the Director of Product Management at Siebel Systems, Inc. Gutlapalli is currently an Executive Director at Kaiser Permanente IT. In the past, he worked as a Senior Software Development Manager at Oracle, and before that he was a Project Lead at the company. He has also served as a Software Engineer at Channelinx. Cherukumilli is presently the VP of Product Management, Data Intelligence, and Analytics at Absolute Software. Before that, he held the role of VP of Product Management at Dtex Systems.