Article: Emerging HR Tech Startups – Infeedo, Hyphen, Storecheq

Employee Engagement

Emerging HR Tech Startups – Infeedo, Hyphen, Storecheq

Employee engagement is a critical to the business. Here's how three emerging startups are helping companies make data driven decisions
Emerging HR Tech Startups – Infeedo, Hyphen, Storecheq

Annual engagement surveys have been one of the ways companies have attempted to unpack employee engagement at the workplace. According to Deloitte, the marketplace for survey providers is estimated to be around $1 billion. Apart from annual surveys, companies have turned to rewards and recognition programs, attractive compensation and benefits strategies, engagement activities, sports and wellness programs to help employees stay motivated and engaged at work. As the HR function is increasingly turning to data-driven technology solutions, there is a growing crop of technologies service providers who are helping companies make informed decisions.

People Matters TechHR 2017 featured a total of 27 emerging startups in a mentorship program called TechHR Spotlight – which was aimed at giving the startups a platform to reach a wide expert audience and also have access to mentors, including investors and senior HR and business leaders. This article features three companies who tackled the challenge of engaging employees using a variety of innovative new ideas – including an AI-based chatbot, anonymous employee listening tools, and multi-gift card.

1.

Startup Name: Hyphen

Incorporation: 2015

Team size: 8

Raised funding: Yes, less than 1 million

Client size: Between 10 to 20 companies

About product offering: Engagement Platform with anonymous, crowdsourced Employee Listening. Deep real-time Insight and People Analytics for HR & Management.

Key problems addressed by the technology: Maximize retention & engagement by enabling Management & HR listen and address issues in real-time.

Elevator Pitch: 

"Just like you'd give real-time feedback on your Uber ride, Hyphen is a platform that promises to engage employees in real time," says Keerthana, the Chief Customer Officer at Hyphen. Given that pulse surveys and annual engagement surveys already form a part of conventional measures to assess engagement, the platform, which is a combination of a mobile app and web platform allows employees to give feedback and opinion in real-time. The unstructured data is made into reports including a sentiment analysis tool, which further helps employers to slice the data based on function, location, etc., to map where the problem lies.

One of the key features of the product is the anonymity – which allows employees forego pressures of wanting to seem right and also circumvents any language issues. The company runs on a subscription per employee per month model and counts HeroMotoCorps, InMobi, and Epsilon among its customers.

2.

Startup Name: Infeedo

Incorporation: 2013

Team size: 10 – 20 people

Raised funding: Yes, less than $250,000

Client size: Between 20 to 50 companies

About product offering: Amber is a smart A.I. chatbot which talks to employees and proactively finds those who are unhappy or most likely to leave.

Key problems addressed by the technology: Helps companies adopt A.I. in HR to kill attrition, engage employees & diagnose culture issues

Elevator Pitch: 

“Companies are prone to thinking through employee issues through a company’s perspective,”  says Tanmaya Jain, CEO of Infeedo, “While a host of annual engagement surveys have been used to help drive engagement, the relevance and validity of these insights are questioned because of the repeated nature of queries from employees.” Amber, Infeedo’s chatbot product has regular conversations with employees to uncover the reasons as to why people are unhappy and which among them are most likely to leave.

In a presentation at TechHR2017, Mr. Jain noted that the process starts with identifying relevant touchpoints with customized questions. And engaging with employees who have the highest probability to leave using predictive analytics and taking steps to address concerns. Given that the system leverages data over time and integrates with HRMS, the chatbot is expected to get better overtime.

3.


Startup Name: Storecheq Innovations Pvt. Ltd.

Incorporation: 2015

Team size: Between 5 -10 people

Raised funding: No

Client size: Between 10 to 20 companies

About product offering: Storecheq is the new currency of Gifting. It is a new cashless, easy, trusted, universally acceptable way of sending & receiving gifts and rewards.

Key problems addressed by the technology: Customers can now create their own branded gift cards which give a choice to the receiver, universally acceptable. There is no hassle of costs of logistics, distribution, inventory, no loss due to pilferages, damages, above all choice to employees.

Elevator Pitch:

Storecheq is a multi-brand gift card that allows employees to choose products, stores, and services. “The employee gets a benefit beyond the value of the card because of the partner eco-system that we’re developing with our merchants and partners,” says Vivek Gupta, CEO of Storecheq. The platform allows the employer to custom build their gift card program and it enables HR and businesses teams to configure Storecheq cards. “The key differentiator is that the platform is easy to use and we create the brand equity for you,” says Mr. Gupta.

After setting up the account, companies create custom cards they pay up front for the value of the card that is generated, so there is no setup or usage fee. Storecheq makes money from the discounts that they get from partners and also earns by getting enabling traffic to partners stores. Clients include Abhinav Outsourcing and Talent Edge.

(Note: This is the 2nd account in the series of HR Tech Startups that People Matters will publish in the next few days. There is no ranking involved. The information about start-ups is as per a submission and presentation by startups at the People Matters TechHR Spotlight program)

Read about the first one here: Bitpupil, eTeki, Eidolon
Upcoming articles:

Oust , Chat chit , Karma notes
Scriptify, Pay Review, Shortlist
Leena AI, Never Grow Up, Synergita
Recruber, Zenseek, Autogram
Storecheq Innovations , Hyphen, inFeedo
Crossbow , Litmus world , Quikchex
FeetApart, Pepal, Hiringplug
Param.ai, Tydy, Tweedl

Read full story

Topics: Employee Engagement, Talent Management, #HRTechMarket

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