Mercu, a groundbreaking platform for managing and retaining deskless employees, has successfully raised $1.6 million in seed funding from investors such as TEN13, 500 Global, Flying Fox Ventures, Archangel Ventures, and XA Network, with participation from existing investor Sequoia Capital India.
Mercu currently assists businesses like Guzman Y Gomez in Singapore and Sam Prince Hospitality Group in Australia in managing their deskless workforce, which comprises 70% of the global workforce.
Despite the majority of workers being deskless, current enablement solutions primarily cater to office-based employees.
Mercu empowers employers in sectors like retail, logistics, hospitality, and manufacturing to streamline onboarding, development, and engagement for their deskless employees using popular chat apps such as Whatsapp.
These chat apps yield 4-5 times higher engagement rates compared to email or mobile app-based content, making them crucial for busy, mobile deskless workers. Mercu minimizes time-consuming manual processes, enhances productivity, and offers insights to reduce employee turnover.
As deskless employee engagement continues to decline and turnover rates rise, managing this workforce segment has become increasingly difficult. The global economy faces a staggering $7.8 trillion in losses each year due to decreased productivity, performance, and increased absenteeism and overheads, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report.
Mercu co-founder Elliott Gibb highlights that current tools overlook the unique aspects of deskless work, often necessitating corporate email addresses or laptops for optimal user experience.
Co-founder Jascha Zittel shares his experience at Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading superapp, where using Whatsapp and Facebook groups to communicate with millions of drivers across eight countries resulted in significantly higher engagement compared to in-app or email communications.
Mercu capitalizes on this engagement by delivering content through popular chat apps already in use, such as Whatsapp, Messenger, and Telegram. This approach eliminates the need for additional software, logins, or passwords and facilitates communication with workers of all ages.
The Mercu platform enables employers to create custom content or select from templates for popular campaigns like engagement surveys, segment employees into groups, and leverage comprehensive analytics for insights and recommendations. Rule-based automation and scheduling features boost productivity by streamlining previously manual processes.
Mercu plans to use the seed funding to expand its presence in the United States, hire essential team members, and further develop its platform. – BusinessNewsAsia.com