EngageRocket eyes South-east Asian expansion with S$3m Series A funds

FRESH from raising S$3 million in a Series A round, human-resources (HR) tech startup EngageRocket is expanding in Indonesia and eyeing Thailand, Malaysia and The Philippines as potential markets, its co-founder and chief executive Leong Chee Tung told The Business Times. 

On Tuesday evening, EngageRocket announced that its Series A raise was led by regional venture firm Qualgro and joined by existing investors SeedPlus, Found.Ventures and angel investor Huang Shao-Ning, the co-founder of JobsCentral. In total, the startup has raised S$4.5 million to date. 

"We want to deepen our presence and serve the local cultural needs of the markets in a better way. We need to stay innovative and venture out... We are also keeping an eye out on Vietnam as a talent base; it's an up-and-coming market," Mr Leong said. 

The expansion comes as EngageRocket is seeking to triple its revenue this year, while doubling its existing headcount of about 20. Mr Leong declined to share specific figures on the startup's revenue. The company opened a new office in Jakarta  on March 1.

Founded in 2016, EngageRocket provides companies a software suite that enables HR professionals to track employee sentiment via surveys and draw insights from the results via analytical tools to improve employee performance. 

The startup now serves 50 enterprise customers, including Starhub, Mediacorp, Singapore Power, Sephora and Indonesian e-commerce player Tokopedia. The subscription fee  starts at  US$5,000 a year for smaller teams, and varies according to the client's headcount and the modules they choose, Mr Leong said. 

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More broadly, EngageRocket is also exploring capabilities in predictive HR analytics, such as in being able to reduce talent outflow, Mr Leong said. 

"We are looking at variables that would impact employees' likelihood to stay or leave, and trying to isolate certain risk factors, so that the platform can become almost like an early-warning system," he said. 

Meanwhile, it is looking to gain market share in South-east Asia, but in a sustainable manner. "We try to ensure that our cash burn is commensurate with our revenue growth. However, our immediate objective over the next 18 months will still be market penetration and growth in market share," he added. 

Heang Chhor, managing partner of Qualgro, said EngageRocket's latest funding round "will enable the team to continue its rapid growth, towards its ambition to become a leader in South-east Asia".