1. Startups

Helpster Changes Name to Workmate, Announces 75 Billion IDR Series A Funding

Investment round led by Atlas Ventures with participation of Gobi Partners, Beacon Venture Capital (Kasikornbank), and previous investors

Workmate (formerly Helpster) today (12/11) announced the acquisition of series A funding of $5,2 million or equivalent to 75 billion Rupiah. This investment round was led by Atlas Ventures with the participation of Gobi Partners, Beacon Venture Capital (Kasikorn Bank), and previous investors. In total, the business founded by Mathew Ward and John Srivorakul has raised a total venture capital of $10 million.

The fresh funds will be focused on improving sales strategies, enlarging the technology team, and expanding the business to new cities. Since its founding in 2016, the company's main mission is to facilitate the informal labor sector in Southeast Asia. workmate headquartered in Singapore, with branch offices in Bangkok, Jakarta and Bali.

Platform name change

Precisely since November 8, 2019, Mathew Ward (Co-Founder & CEO) announce officially changed the name from Helpster to Workmate. According to him, the new name better represents the vision and scope of the current platform – not only bridging informal workers, but helping businesses with an integrated set of tools.

"As part of this update, we will be launching a new customer portal and worker app in the coming months, which will bring significant improvements to the platform and the way we support business [...] With a new name, logo and fresh funds raised, We will continue to innovate and work tirelessly to provide our customers and partners with the best solutions for staffing on the market."

Business potential

Mentioned in Southeast Asia informal labor sector accounts for more than 50% of the total workforce, with a turnover of $ 200 billion per year in wages. By 2025, the informal labor recruitment market is predicted to double. However, behind this great potential, the method of job search still relies on traditional methods, such as word of mouth socialization.

"We have developed an automated system, companies can directly contact prospective employees without having to go through the services of agents who usually charge intermediary rates of up to 30%," said Mathew. "If you look at this business model, this business model has not changed much over the last 40 years. Therefore, this informal sector of the workforce has great potential for disruption. The business model we offer is also growing rapidly in the international market – even Uber recently launched Uber Works as a employment solutions in the US."

Not only acting as job marketplace, Workmate platform also manage employment contracts, attendance management, timesheet, and processing workers' payments. In the future, it will also be synergized with insurance services and financial access support for workers.

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"We are not just a job search site or a link site. More than that, we offer workforce solutions end-to-end that empowers and protects workers. At the same time, we also help companies find the staff they need to operate optimally," said Mathew.

In Indonesia, startups that present platforms related to employment are quite numerous and growing. Each one offers a unique value, you name it Glints, they apply automation technology for job candidate sorting. There are also Kalibrr which prioritizes the validity of the competency of prospective workers through a series of pre-tests before the application is submitted to the company. There are also Ekrut, Urbanhire, to Karir.com who try to offer similar solutions.

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