Build for the Staff, Let the Business Pay for It

01 /The Concept

All Gravy is an app that restaurants, cafes, fast food outlets, grocery stores, and supermarkets can hand to their hourly and shift workers to improve operational efficiency.

The core pitch has two parts: first, it's an all-in-one tool designed to replace the fragmented set of apps these employees currently use. Second, it's designed with the interface sensibilities of the platforms younger workers actually use every day.

The first function is onboarding. Managers build step-by-step workflows for each role inside the app, and new hires follow them to get up to speed. The same system holds all operational documentation – rules, procedures, product descriptions, training materials – eliminating paper binders and printouts. Everything is editable through a simple in-app editor.

Internal communication moves into the app as well, through built-in group chats. New employees are automatically added to the channels matching their location and role. The interface mimics social media – user profiles, images, reactions, comments.

Managers use the app to collect regular employee feedback. They can run manual surveys targeting specific employee segments, or set up automated surveys triggered at the end of each shift.

A common employee concern: was this shift paid correctly? All Gravy integrates with the company's payroll system to show each employee their accruing earnings in real time.

More interestingly, this section doubles as a basic personal finance tool. Employees can connect their bank accounts and see their current balance alongside upcoming bills – all in one place. The design intent here is transparent: give employees a clear view of their financial picture, and they'll be more motivated to pick up additional shifts. Standard personal finance features round it out: income and spending summaries, budget planning recommendations, and savings suggestions.

The effects are measurable. Employees at businesses using All Gravy take on an average of 20% more shifts per month. They also open the app at least 70 times a month – which, assuming a typical schedule of 15 working days, works out to four or five app sessions per shift. The startup also reports a 15% reduction in employee turnover at client businesses.

All Gravy was founded in Denmark but has seen strong growth in the UK, with revenue tripling over the past twelve months. The platform is now used by more than 1,000 locations and businesses worldwide. The startup just closed a €2.6 million round to accelerate its UK expansion.

02 /Why It Matters

As All Gravy's founder puts it: "Gen Z is used to TikTok, Instagram, and ChatGPT – but when they show up at a restaurant or store, they're handed a pen and a clipboard."

That's an overstatement, but not by much. Many restaurants and retailers have digitized their operations. Most internal business tools, though, look nothing like TikTok or Instagram – which creates friction and frustration for a generation that defaults to those interaction patterns.

The trend toward consumer-grade UX in workplace software is real, and All Gravy isn't alone in building for it. The clearest signal: multiple startups have already raised meaningful capital on the same basic thesis across different industries.

Kraaft ([reviewed here](/review/zachem-tebe-lavry-vozmi-luchshe-dengami)) raised €16.2 million for a construction worker app its creators describe as "WhatsApp for construction." CompanyCam ([covered here](/review/luchshe-tysjachi-slov)) raised $38 million for a photo-first app for contractors that works like Instagram – employees post project updates as photos in a team channel. Snapfix ([reviewed here](/review/novye-shablony)) raised €3.25 million for a similar photo-based app in commercial property maintenance.

The same problem exists on factory floors. Squint ([reviewed here](/review/700-millionov-chelovek-kotorym-obychnye-platformy-ne-podojdut)) raised $19 million for an AR app that workers can point at any machine to get step-by-step instructional video clips; DeepHow ([reviewed here](/review/63-milliarda-dollarov-na-700-millionov-uchenikov)) raised $37.1 million for an analogous platform.

The pattern across all of these is the same: take the interaction model that younger workers already understand intuitively, strip out everything that makes enterprise software feel like enterprise software, and apply it to a specific operational context. Each vertical is a separate business.

03 /Opportunities

Consumer apps are obsessively designed to capture and hold attention – that's the job. Enterprise software for employees historically wasn't held to that standard, on the assumption that employees had no choice but to use whatever they were given.

But they do have a choice – and turnover keeps rising. As ChangeEngine ([reviewed here](/review/odno-bez-drugogo-smysla-ne-imeet)) argues, "it has never been harder to capture employee attention" – a thesis it has backed with $15.5 million raised to build a platform that helps companies communicate with and measure engagement from their workforce.

Workshop ([reviewed here](/review/da-prosto-vozmi-i-perenesi)) raised $20.7 million for a platform that solves a very similar problem through the simpler mechanism of well-designed internal email newsletters.

The through-line: to retain employees effectively, companies need to start treating them the way they treat customers. The same principles apply – earn attention, build loyalty, deliver a frictionless experience.

The specific opportunity here is industry-by-industry. There are hundreds of operational contexts – logistics, healthcare, retail, hospitality, field services – where the internal tooling is still stuck in the clipboard era. Each one is a potential All Gravy. The question is which industry you know well enough to build it for.