Singapore-headquartered people analytics startup EngageRocket recently announced that it has secured approximately US$2 million in a Series A funding round led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Qualgro. Qualgro – whose name is a combination of the words ‘quality’ and ‘growth’ – mainly focuses their investments at Series A and Series B in aspiring business-to-business startups and companies with real tech advantages across the regions of Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Other participants of the Series A round include existing investors Huang Shao Ning, co-founder of JobsCentral; Found.Ventures, an early-stage investment firm that counts FoodRazor and Nimbus among its portfolio of companies; and SeedPlus, a Singapore-based early-stage investment fund that is backed by Jungle Ventures. With its Series A, EngageRocket’s latest round of financing brings its total amount of funds secured thus far to roughly US$3 million.
EngageRocket was founded by Chee Tung Leong and Dorothy Yiu in 2016. The human resources tech startup is now one of the fastest growing startups in the region, due in part to the rapid rise in demand for people analytics software by mid and large-sized businesses and companies seeking to increase their employee retention and engagement. The startup provides a cloud-based solution that offers seamless implementation and fast user adoption so companies can get started right away. Its intelligent platform enables companies to manage people with real-time data and analytics, and it also features an early warning system for reducing talent attrition.
EngageRocket is also the first people analytics startup in Southeast Asia to reach a Series A fundraising round. With the freshly acquired funds, EngageRocket will focus on tripling its revenue for the year 2020 and hiring more talent to complement its people science and engineering teams, in addition to upscaling their capabilities. The startup will also utilize the funds to enhance its customer service in each of its Southeast Asian markets for delivering customized support.
Co-founder Chee Tung Leong, who is also the chief executive officer at EngageRocket, shared that a people analytics-focused approach to employee management can produce great results, such as a 21% increase in per-employee productivity, as well as a substantial upwards improvement of approximately 150% in earnings per share. In an era where companies are increasingly battling it out over the hiring and retention of top tier talent, these businesses are beginning to accept a customer analytics-inspired approach to talent analytics to come out on top. Dorothy Yiu, co-founder and chief operating officer at the people analytics startup, added that EngageRocket has helped businesses and companies to more than quadruple their employee loyalty, while at the same time providing leaders and managers with data-driven insights to manage their employees in a more efficient and effective manner.
Heang Chhor, managing partner of Qualgro, said that the venture capital firm is pleased to be working together with EngageRocket as the people analytics startup continues to develop its talent and capabilities to better serve its numerous medium and large-sized regional companies. People analytics is a field that is increasingly gaining ground in Southeast Asia as companies and organizations look to its solutions for increasing employee retention and for developing a wholesome company culture. The latest round of funding will enable the Singapore-based human resources technology startup to further accelerate its growth as it aspires to become a leading force in Southeast Asia.
