Boston, August 18, 2020 — HelloTeam, the all-in-one performance management and employee engagement platform, has received a $3.5 million seed round led by Boston-based Underscore VC, which was joined by Osage Venture Partners, Ventureforgood, and others. The new round will be used to drive strategic product enhancements and communications tools to help its customers respond, recover and thrive during these challenging times.
Founded by Tanya Bakalov, who grew her previous company to a $1 billion valuation with more than 500 employees across multiple offices, HelloTeam’s platform helps companies foster a connected culture, which thrives from continuous recognition and feedback.
Demand for HelloTeam’s people management platform has surged during the pandemic as companies face three immediate challenges: enabling a successful remote work model, supporting critical new needs for companies planning to return to work or instituting a hybrid approach, and prioritizing and supporting inclusion growth and awareness.
“We’re in a disruptive shift from the traditional in-office workplace to a remote and hybrid-work model.” said Tanya Bakalov, CEO at HelloTeam. “Industry leaders like Facebook, Siemens, and Google, as well as countless smaller companies, are moving to a continued remote-work model. Inevitably, they face a common challenge: how to build a scalable, unified culture for decentralized teams. Having the technology to engage, align, and inspire their workforce, especially in the remote setting, is now a business necessity.”
For companies planning to stay remote for the foreseeable future, HelloTeam boosts employee productivity and retention. Modern workforces need HelloTeam’s combination of connected goals, continuous performance management, manager-employee one-on-ones, engagement surveys with instant people analytics, and real-time peer recognition to sustain a company’s work culture and identity. These and other features provide business leaders with the insights they need to build a stronger, performance-driven workforce in a remote environment, and provide data-informed results to shape people strategies.
Additionally, companies planning to return to work benefit from new functionalities designed specifically for the current environment, including daily COVID-19 Surveys, which provide a path for organizations to bring employees back to work safely in compliance with guidance provided by OSHA, CDC, SHRM, and others. To encourage best practices, HelloTeam recently launched a Slack Community called ‘Culture Corner,’ which gives Human Resources Professionals a destination location for HR peers to network and share best practices for fostering a diverse and productive workforce.
“There is a lot of innovation in the human capital space. HelloTeam stands apart in the performance and engagement technology market; it’s clearly winning its customers’ hearts and minds, giving companies the power of continuity in their people strategy, especially during these challenging times.” said Michael Skok, Underscore VC’s Founding Partner.
About HelloTeam
HelloTeam provides an all-in-one performance management and employee engagement platform that empowers managers and employees to be engaged and highly-effective in their work. Customers can purchase HelloTeam’s innovative platform on the ADP Marketplace or by visiting cms-test.helloteam.com.
About Underscore VC
Underscore VC is a Boston-based venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs from seed to series A with an aligned community designed to fit each startup’s unique needs. www.underscore.vc
About Osage Venture Partners
Osage Venture Partners is a Venture Capital & Private Equity firm that invests in early stage, business-to-business software companies headquartered on the East Coast. www.osageventurepartners.com
About Ventureforgood
Ventureforgood is an investment holding company set up by John Simon that dedicates the “carried interest” to enable better outcomes for children and families via life-changing non-profits like The GreenLight Fund (www.greenlightfund.org).