UpKeep, a mobile-first platform for maintenance and operations collaboration, has today announced the close of a $36 million Series B financing round. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Emergence Capital, Battery Ventures, Y Combinator, Mucker Capital and Fundersclub.

Plant Services Editor-in-Chief Thomas Wilk had a chance to talk with Chan recently about how plant teams can overcome the challenge of gaining buy-in on a CMMS solution.

Ryan Chan is bringing the data revolution to the blue-collar worker. "We keep forgetting this part of America," he says. "This forgotten workforce is so different than Silicon Valley."

Business software companies are turning their attention to the blue-collar workforce.

The Los Angeles company has raised $2.7 million from investors including Battery Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Y Combinator, Mucker Capital, FundersClub, Vy Capital, Zillionize, Agile VC and Trifecta Capital. Angel investors include Advait Shine, Ed Roman and Xuezhao Lan.

By giving managers a way to prioritize and get work orders out quickly — even on their phones — it means that communication happens more in real time. That’s compared to desktop tools that are already in place and are quite clunky from the larger companies