HomeFundingLondon-based Ben picks up €15.6 million for its global platform making workplace...

London-based Ben picks up €15.6 million for its global platform making workplace benefits work for everyone

With its global platform that is empowering better employee benefits, London-based startup Ben, has secured €15.6 million in fresh capital. Ben is on a mission to make workplace benefits work for everyone, everywhere and is now embarking on exciting growth plans. 

The global shift in approaches to working is affecting lives and businesses in an immense way. Advances in tech, coupled with new attitudes to work (and not to forget, the global pandemic that accelerated these changes), have meant that working expectations have shifted entirely. The majority of workers now work in a hybrid or remote format, and, expect more flexibility and more benefits from their employers.

Workplace benefits now need to provide much more than simply bog-standard insurance and retirement plans. The employee wellbeing market, for example, is now worth over €55 billion. New products are frequently coming to market to suit every lifestyle, from earned wage access to mental health, fertility, parenthood support, and new insurance products. 

However, the benefits ecosystem is fragmented and undigitized. The growing spectrum of possibilities for employee benefits is still young, and it’s a space in need of some formation. Employee benefit engagement sits at less than 20%, with companies wasting billions of dollars on unused, one-size fits all benefits that don’t necessarily cater for the diverse and global workforce.

Ben, founded in 2019 by Sebastian Fallert (CEO) and David Duckworth (COO) is offering a global platform for employee benefits and it’s just secured a fresh capital investment.

“This is the first time in history that four generations coexist in the workforce at the same time. Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z participate in a complex global economy, and their benefit requirements vary and fluctuate,” said Ben CEO and Co-Founder Sebastian Fallert. “Companies, many of whom are spending around 33% of payroll on benefits, are reassessing their traditional benefits packages to fit more culturally and ethnically diverse teams distributed around the world.”

The Funding

The Series A funding was led by Atomico and brings the startup’s total funding to around €20.6 million. Investment also came from Cherry Ventures, DN Capital and Seedcamp, as well as HR and FinTech founders such as Phil Chambers and Neil Ryland (Peakon CEO and CRO),  Ross Seychell (Personio CPO) and Job van der Voort (Remote).

As part of the investment, Atomico Partner Sasha Vidiborskiy will join Ben’s board.

Ben will use the funding to accelerate the development of its SaaS and payments technology and expand its global employer customer base. Additionally, Ben will be investing in building its team to help achieve the goal of becoming the technology infrastructure for all global benefits – connecting employers, employees, brokers, and benefits providers. 

Employee benefits for everyone, everywhere

On the back of over 10x year-on-year growth, Ben is revolutionising the workplace benefits experience for all players in the ecosystem. The open platform allows employees to choose from a wide array of options and find what suits them – removing the challenging HR task of sourcing and managing a package relevant for an entire workforce or spending money on benefits that are stored in spreadsheets and never used. It means benefits are more personal, and employees feel more engaged in the process. They get an active role to play in their benefits – it only seems logical. 

By using Ben, employers empower workers to make smart use of benefit budgets and enable vital flexibility as needs and desires naturally shift in line with evolving lifestyles. The per-employee Ben Mastercard and flexible allowance function take personalisation one step further, as companies can set budgets and spending rules to put decision-making in the hands of the employee to choose what suits them best.

Aside from enhancing employee engagement, Ben’s tech cuts out admin for HR managers integrating accounting, HR, and Payroll systems to streamline all onboarding, enrollment, management and offboarding processes. It also has data sharing capabilities which can be used by brokers and supplies to adapt benefit offers to better suit the reality of the modern workforce.

With a rapidly growing customer base, the benefits of Ben are already felt by many of the world’s fastest-growing global companies. Ben is working with 150+ companies globally, from mid-sized, fully distributed companies to large enterprises. Prominent names include Zalando, Deliveroo, Funding Circle, Pleo, BitPanda and Remote. 

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Patricia Allen
Patricia Allen
is the Head of Content at EU-Startups. With a background in politics, Patricia has a real passion for how shared ideas across communities and cultures can bring new initiatives and innovations for the future. She spends her time bringing you the latest news and updates of startups across Europe, and curating our social media.
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