Riding the Remote Working Wave leads to Rapid Growth and Expansion at PepTalk

PepTalk, the global team culture platform has just completed a €1.2 million funding round and has announced plans to hire an additional 15 roles across sales, marketing, and technology in the next 12 months.

Founded in 2017 by ex-Twitter Executive and COO, Michelle Fogarty, former lawyer and CEO, James Brogan, and former Dublin footballer, Bernard Brogan, the ‘culture tech’ company helps companies embed positive behaviours and habits designed to enhance team engagement and performance especially in a hybrid work environment.

PepTalk has experienced significant growth in the last 12 months, doubling of turnover, reaching over 10,000 users of the platform across 4 continents and the addition of a significant number of multi-year partnerships with high profile clients including Linesight, Nitro (USA), PRL Group and Northern Trust.

The latest round of funding was led by Haatch Ventures, a seasoned UK based VC company which has previously invested in high growth Irish tech companies such as Buymie and Scurri, with participation from Enterprise Ireland. Also participating was a consortium of angel investors with significant experience in the fast-growing future of work technology space.

The funding will be used to fast-track further enhancements to the culture platform, such as behavioural nudges for managers and team check ins as organisations grapple with building culture and trust in the new working world. PepTalk has over 20 full-time employees now and expects to hire 15 additional members across sales, marketing, and technology over the next 12 months. PepTalk will continue its aggressive expansion across EMEA and the UK .

PepTalk is now positioned in the newly emerging work tech market as organisations contend with how to build and maintain culture in a hybrid workplace. In recent months both burnout and dis-engagement among employees combined with an increasingly challenging leadership environment has created massive problems for organisations.

• According to Gallup, globally, employee engagement decreased by 2 points, from 22% in 2019 to 20% in 2020
• Gallup also reports only 32% of employees describe themselves as thriving
• Microsoft reported in their Work Trend Index that more than 40% of people who responded to a global survey (+30,000 people in 31 countries), said they are considering leaving their employer this year

All of the above has led to the emergence of technology to embed behaviors and habits now crucial to success. Research has shown that by improving employee engagement, organisations can achieve higher productivity, higher customer loyalty, lower employee turnover and higher profitability, among other positive business outcomes.

Welcoming the news, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD said:

“It’s great to see an Irish start-up doing so well and experiencing strong growth, even during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s also very encouraging to see the company planning to almost double its workforce over the next 12 months. I particularly commend PepTalk’s focus on blended working and remote working, which reflects the Government’s intention to see more flexibility in many more workplaces. I wish PepTalk the very best for the year ahead and look forward to seeing many more years of growth and workforce expansion

Speaking about the dramatic change in work relationships, PepTalk’s CEO, James Brogan, commented; “The world of work is at a crucial inflection point, with the hybrid model now emerging as the clear winner. Organisations must consider how they build trust, connection, and shared experiences in this environment. Hybrid culture needs to be built with much more proactivity and intentionality and that is where our platform is now essential. Ensuring those social behaviours are nudged and enabled wherever employees are based. This is a fundamental part of performance culture and will impact productivity if not addressed.”

Niall McEvoy, Manager of the High Potential Start-Up Division, Enterprise Ireland, said; “PepTalk is a pioneering innovative Irish company developing important and exciting solutions for the new world of work. Enterprise Ireland is proud to support PepTalk’s innovative cloud-based employee wellbeing and performance management solution. With the significant changes in work patterns and accelerated digital transformation that we have experienced during the pandemic, this ambitious company is ideally positioned to assist businesses to enhance their workplace culture, employee engagement and growth, particularly with remote working now being an important and integral way we do business globally.”

Haatch Co-Founder, Fred Soneya, remarked; “We believe the space PepTalk is in is incredibly exciting. There is now an increasing realisation of the correlation between employee engagement and organisational performance, and with hybrid working we expect this trend to continue. The PepTalk team is very impressive, they have a deep understanding of this space and have shown exceptional growth in recent months. They are really well-positioned to scale globally, and we are thrilled to support them on this journey.”

If you would like to check out how PepTalk can help your company, visit www.peptalkhq.com

About PepTalk:  PepTalk is a team culture and action platform designed specifically for the hybrid work environment. PepTalk embeds the positive behaviours and habits that are essential to success while powering employee wellbeing. This is done through shared experiences, real conversations and real-time, team sentiment analysis. The outcome has been enhanced teamwork, better engagement, improved resilience, and higher discretionary effort.