HR tech startup EngageRocket nets $2.1m to expand in Southeast Asia

EngageRocket, a Singapore-based people analytics startup, announced that it has secured S$3 million (or nearly US$2.1 million) in a funding round led by venture capital firm Qualgro.

EngageRocket Team / Photo credit: EngageRocket

Existing investors SeedPlus, Found Ventures, and JobsCentral co-founder Huang Shao-Ning also participated in the round, which brought the startup’s total funding to S$4.5 million (US$3.1 million).

EngageRocket, which has just opened a new office in Jakarta, said it will use the new funds to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Established in 2016, the startup provides a cloud-based software that automates employee feedback and analytics to help organizations improve employee engagement and performance.

“Personalizing the employee journey using real-time data can yield up to 147% improvements in earnings per share and 21% gains in per-person productivity,” CheeTung Leong, the co-founder and CEO at EngageRocket, said.

The startup claims it has doubled its user base and grew its enterprise customer segment by over four times in the past 12 months. Its platform has analyzed over 2 million employee answers in 20 industries and 14 markets for clients such as StarHub, Tokopedia, Mediacorp, and Singapore Power.

With less than US$5 million annual recurring revenue and about 20 employees, EngageRocket now aims to triple its revenue in 2020 and double its headcount by adding engineering, people science, and customer-facing roles in each of its Southeast Asian markets, the company told Tech in Asia.

“People spend more than half their waking lives at work, and many people tie their sense of identity and self-worth to what they do for a living,” Leong said. “EngageRocket aims to help leaders make a positive impact in people’s lives through work.”

The company previously raised US$640,000 in a seed round led by SeedPlus and Found Ventures in 2018.

Currency converted from Singapore dollar to US dollar: US$1 = S$1.45.