Y-Combinator Backs inFeedo To Engage Remote Workforces During COVID-19
inFeedo raises $700K from YC and their customer CEOs while being cash flow-positive.
inFeedo, a SaaS-based people analytics start-up, recently closed a round of funding with Y Combinator along with Indian founders and CEOs as investors. YC, a start-up accelerator globally and known to have a lower acceptance rate than Harvard University, backed inFeedo as one of the few growing start-ups in its Summer 2020 batch, happening remotely due to the ongoing pandemic.
Along with YC CEO Michael Seibel as Partner, the investors who joined the round include Dr Ritesh Malik (Founder at OYO-acquired innov8), Peyush Bansal (CEO at Lenskart), Vinod Muthukrishnan (CEO at Cisco-acquired Cloudcherry), Anand Chandrasekaran (Former Snapdeal CPO and Facebook Director), Sunder Nookala (CEO at OC Tanner-acquired Kwench) and Anil Advani (CEO at Inventus Law) and 100x Entrepreneur Fund that led an oversubscribed syndicate via LetsVenture.
With this round of funding at a Series A valuation, inFeedo's short term vision is to double down on hiring to fill up key management roles from COO, CMO to CTO who can scale the organisation to rapidly expand its customer base and generate $10M in revenue. The future product roadmap includes enhanced capabilities to engage remote workforces, leadership and manager effectiveness, and ability to run pulse surveys. Interestingly, a key component of the YC program will be Demo Day where companies in the batch can pitch to several global venture capitalists, investors for possible strategic acquisitions as well. The long-term product vision, however, is to fill the employee wellness gap still prevalent across organizations by creating a pro-mental health AI-enabled solution.
"In spite of running a cash flow positive business, our main aim to fundraise during the pandemic was to double down in South-East Asia and build a leadership team that helps customers remotely connect with their employees better and come out of COVID-19 stronger than before," says CEO and Founder Tanmaya Jain.
This year, the company is razor-sharp focussed to expand into the South-East Asia market and take on competitors like Glint which recently got acquired by LinkedIn. Since its inception in 2013, inFeedo has notably challenged industry behemoths like AON, Great Place to Work At, Mercer and their status quo of engaging employees using traditional methods like annual surveys. inFeedo has users in more than 50 countries with over 100 customers including enterprises like Airtel, GE Healthcare, Nivea, Lenovo, AXA Affin General Insurance, Tata Group, Unilever, Puma, OYO, to name a few.
"It’s the founder’s persistence and hustle clubbed with the massive growth opportunity in the employee experience market brought on by the shift to remote work that made me invest immediately," says Vinod Muthukrishnan on why he chose to invest in inFeedo.
"Having benefited directly from Amber at OYO, as a customer, I was already motivated to invest in inFeedo as a company with a strong value system that's always prioritised customer advocacy over investor relations", says Dr Ritesh Malik.
