Betterteem, a Philippine HR-tech startup backed by tech startup incubator IdeaSpace Foundation, has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round participated by Techstars, Crestone Venture Capital, and 1337 Ventures (Malaysia).
While the announcement did not reveal financial details of the funding, it was reported in April that Betterteem was seeking $500,000 in pre-Seed funding to further develop its AI-powered offering.
Founder and CEO Bo Discarga said the fresh funding will be used to launch its mobile app and expand its service offerings.
The startup, founded by Discarga and Rey Leonard Dumasig in Metro Manila in 2021, uses machine learning to improve workforce management. It initially focuses on business process outsourcing firms (BPOs) as it seeks to find out and define the specific drivers of employee experience in the sector in Asia Pacific.
BPO firms can use Betterteem to predict employee churn and provide on-demand mental health support, all managed through a digital employee community platform.
Since its launch, Betterteem claims to have onboarded over 14,000 BPO employees on its platform, a 34% month-on-month average user growth. It also plans to offer HR services in South Korea through the K-Startup Grand Challenge 2022.
“Our goal is to get all these employee data in one place and harmonize them to support HR transformation and digitalization,” Discarga said in a statement.
In an earlier interview with The Independent Investor, Discarga said he first came up with the idea of an employee rewards app in 2017, along with co-founder and CTO Dumasig.
Discarga, an employee experience professional, brought years of experience working for companies like Bank of America, Startek, Accenture, Quantrics, and JPMorgan Chase, helping build sustainable plans to improve worker morale and engagement.
With CTO Dumasig’s expertise in tech infrastructure and data security—as well as his experience as a tech consultant for startups—the two got to work on Kaboom, the first iteration of what would eventually become Betterteem.
Betterteem’s target sector, the BPO industry, contributes nearly $30 billion to the Philippine economy each year. The sector currently employs more than 1.3 million Filipinos and is expected to generate more than $29 billion by the end of this year.
In July, IdeaSpace Foundation, a Manual Pangilinan-led founder-focused early-stage tech investor, infused P1 million in Betterteem, which was among the three startups that the foundation chose to receive funding for laying out the most feasible blueprint in growing their business.