Netherlands-based workforce analytics software developer Crunchr welcomed back corporate investors Randstad and Nationale-Nederlanden for its latest funding round yesterday.
The size of the round was not disclosed but it was led by venture capital firm Oxx and is the third to be closed by Crunchr, with both human resources provider Randstad’s Innovation Fund and insurer Nationale-Nederlanden participating as existing investors, founder and CEO, Dirk Jonker told Global Corporate Venturing.
“We bootstrapped the company in 2014, received seed funding later from the Randstad Innovation Fund and closed our series A in 2019 with Randstad Innovation Fund and Nationale-Nederlanden,” he confirmed.
Crunchr has built a software platform which enables enterprises to apply data analytics to their existing HR software in order to strengthen employee engagement and productivity and facilitate long-term planning. It estimates most businesses already work with some 30 existing platforms.
“Companies realise that they sit on tons of data, but this data is scattered in different systems and insights are limited,” Jonker said. “They are in need of a consolidation and analytics layer on top. That is exactly what Crunchr delivers.”
The covid-19 lockdowns forced many employees to work away from the office and the subsequent ‘great resignation’ has led to staff shortages for a range of businesses, making employee retention more important.
Falling margins mean Crunchr’s product may also be used to target cost reductions, but the platform allows businesses to get deeper insight into a range of areas.
“For example,” Jonker explained, “Did we see a reduction in voluntary employee turnover after we delivered training? Or how does lower base pay impact employee engagement? Or will our current efforts in diversity and inclusion help us to hit our goals in three years? Or what are the 10 pockets for cost savings opportunities?
“Without these insights, it is nearly impossible to measure how talent management processes are contributing to better employee experience and productivity improvements. People analytics empower organisations to create high performing organisations where people thrive.”
Crunchr plans to spend the cash from the latest round on product development and international growth, capitalising on large US clients such as online travel agent Booking.com and insurance firms MetLife and AllState.
Randstad was a Crunchr client before an investor, but its presence in the HR industry helped the company expand the scale of its product, which is set to be beefed up with predictive analytics tools. Nationale-Nederlanden meanwhile adds expertise in partnerships and distribution.
“Randstad is a leader in contingent workforce, and this allowed us to provide a 360-degree view on all workforce for our clients: not only analytics on permanent staff but also on contingent workers,” Jonker said. “This combined insight helps companies to make better decisions around site selection, buy-build strategies and strategic workforce planning.”
“Nationale-Nederlanden came onboard to explore how they can develop propositions to support employers, beyond retirement and health. Traditional insurers provide health insurance, forward thinking insurers want to understand what drives health challenges, such as burnouts, and want to proactively help companies to stay fit. The interdependency required for this to work involves having good analytics.”
Photo of Dirk Jonker courtesy of Crunchr.
