For over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore has led to movement restrictions, lockdowns, business closures, and remote working approaches. These changes came in a time of economic recession, an increase in unemployment rates, and border restrictions limiting the flow of foreign talent. HRtech startups in Singapore have emerged or become more prominent as businesses seek to address the evolving workplace needs of a post-pandemic world.

The work-from-home and hybrid working models have brought about new challenges. Among the most common emerging HR challenges are mentally-overwhelmed employees, mass resignations, burnouts and talent shortages, just to name a few. Businesses that thought they could just offer higher salaries to jobseekers have realised they need more significant insights and better human resource tools to acquire the right talent. Disruptive tech companies are innovating novel solutions to meet the demand for better employee management.

5 emerging HRtech startups in Indonesia

Here are five promising startups that are a game-changer for HRtech in Singapore:

EngageRocket

Cloud-based analytics software company EngageRocket provides leaders and organisations with real-time employee engagement and productivity data. It is available in more than 16 countries and has accumulated over 10 million survey responses. Its insights highlight emerging office-culture trends and provide feedback, enabling companies to improve their employees’ work experience. HR can make data-driven decisions and action plans using the analytics and benchmarks provided by EngageRocket.

Thus far, EngageRocket has raised $3.2 million USD from SeedPlus, Huang Shao Ning, Qualgro VC, and Found.Ventures.

Payboy

Intuitive HR software Payboy is a platform built with both the employer and the employees in mind. It handles inventory, leaves, claims, payroll, training, shift scheduling, time attendance, and other HR processes, enabling managers to focus on the core business functions. Payboy founders pride themselves in serving entrepreneurs because their company also started small and grew over time. As such, they use feedback and customer queries to learn and improve future product developments.

Payboy started without a huge investment, and it took the efforts of four friends to develop the business and the software. The company witnessed quarterly growth of 126% after the first year, and it is looking to boost its offerings and expand into Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries.

Darwinbox

Tech platform Darwinbox offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) HR solutions to fulfil its mission of shaping the future of work. It has a suite of talent recruitment and management solutions, payroll and compensation tools, workforce management, remote and return-to-work suites, virtual onboarding, and people analytics systems. It operates in more than 90 countries, has 650 enterprises, and has 1.5 million employees.

Recently, Darwinbox raised $72 million USD in Series D funding from Menlo Park-based Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), enabling the company to reach a $1 billion USD valuation, the first SaaS business to achieve unicorn status this year. The previous funding of over $15 million USD came from Salesforce Ventures. Other existing investors include Sequoia, JGDEV, Lightspeed India, SCB 10X, Endiya, and 3One4Capital. The $72 million USD will be used to ensure customer success, democratise HR data for department heads, and provide insights to manage employee experiences.

HReasily

Employee management and payroll software HReasily is a cloud-based platform that streamlines and automates workforce shift schedules, compensation, benefits, and leave applications. It is available in several Southeast Asian countries plus Hong Kong and serves more than 68,000 companies. Its partners include VISA, Mazars, UOB, PRUDENTIAL, Google Workspace, and Xero.

The company raised $5 million USD from Envy Capital, bringing its valuation to about $100 million USD. Another investor is Zino Ventures, and it raised $2.3 million SGD in the Seed round. 

HReasily’s strategic partnerships create an ecosystem whereby customers can obtain multiple solutions and enjoy more personalised services.

Justlogin

Employee-first HR Software justlogin offers integrated, cloud-based HR solutions, giving the workforce a better experience on the platform. Workers can clock their attendance, reach out to other colleagues through the employee directory, and receive notifications on payday. Employees can also digitise their business cards and scan their receipts to submit expense claims.

Employers can store their employees’ data, integrate the software with accounting tools to fulfil payroll and manage the workforce in real-time. Furthermore, it can generate insights and charts to guide the management’s decision-making. It partnered with MatchMove to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on justlogin’s platform to pay their employees digitally.  

Emerging employment trends mean that companies have to find fresh ideas to recruit, manage, upskill, and retain employees. HRtech startups in Singapore hold the key as they provide payroll, workforce management, and workplace insights solutions. Companies must consider their internal needs to select the ideal HRtech startup to address their challenges.

The HRtech Singapore is spawning needs monetary support, not just from investors but also from the government. The Singaporean government can work together with these new disruptive HR companies to reduce the unemployment rates in the country and enhance employee satisfaction.