Madrid-based Cobee, a startup that develops an online platform that automates and simplifies employee benefits management, announced on Tuesday, that it has closed €40M in its Series B round of funding.
The investment was led by the British investment funds Octopus Ventures and Notion Capital. Additionally, existing investors Balderton Capital, Speedinvest and Dila Capital also participated in this round.
Nick Sando, Principle at Octopus Ventures, says, “Increased competition and mobility in the job market has transformed employee benefits from a “nice to have” to a “need to have” talent attraction and retention tool. Cobee stands to play a fundamental role in the employee benefits markets by providing both best-in-class service providers and a core platform for HR teams to best manage and distribute these services. Representing over $53B of business spend, the market opportunity for employee benefits is massive and we couldn’t be more excited to support this business on its next phase of growth.”
Capital utilisation
Cobee receives the funds after making three times as many sales in a single year as a result of the product upgrades that have allowed the company to grow sustainably. Cobee will be able to grow its present business in Spain and Portugal as well as enter new markets. The company starts its internationalisation to Latin America in one of the biggest markets in the region: Mexico.
Borja Aranguren, co-founder and CEO of Cobee, says, “For us, it’s very important that investors understand our market and share the vision of what we want to build. Both Octopus and Notion had previously considered other employee benefits startups in Europe, but could not get convinced. However, our vision matched perfectly with their thesis, so it’s been a perfect match. We have an outstanding combination of investment funds in Europe and Latam, which will unlock the potential in our target markets.”
Improving employee wellbeing
Founded in 2019 by Borja Aranguren and Nacho Travesí, Cobee claims to take employee benefits management and salary sacrifice to another level with a 100 per cent digital platform aimed at staff wellbeing. Both businesses and individuals can use all of the services on the website and their mobile app, without any hassles or middlemen.
The HR departments are equipped with a compensation tool that substantially lowers administration and paperwork while enhancing employer branding for the business. In return, employees can access and take advantage of all perks whenever and wherever they want, using a single card, and can also view their transactions and savings in real time.
Since its inception, Cobee has worked in Spain with companies such as Ogilvy, Booking, Workday, N26, JTI, Job & Talent, Avis, Línea Directa, Michelin and Glovo. In 2021, it expanded its services to Portugal, where it has already acquired a wide range of clients.
For the past two months, Cobee claims to have experienced a huge internal revolution to keep innovating in the field of employee compensation. In order to enhance its usability and hence support its scalability, the organisation completely revamped its employee benefits platform.
The startup has also made improvements to the app to make it easier for everyone to readily access their perks and monitor their savings. Among other significant modifications, it has also introduced the virtual card so that transactions may be completed right away without the physical version, minimising the usage of plastic.
Aims to achieve international scalability and product diversification
After establishing its first office in Portugal in 2021, Cobee says it is still laying the groundwork for the introduction of its services in additional nations. Aside from committing to foreign investors recently, the startup has expanded its management team with various experts who have worked in reputable startups in many areas, including Cabify, Gympass, and Binance.
To continue its employee benefits revolution, Cobee is currently focusing on the markets in America and Southern Europe.
Besides welcoming new talents, the company anticipates growing its workforce to over 200 individuals in the next 18 months to strengthen its key business segments in various hubs, including Madrid, Lisbon, and soon Mexico and other markets in Southern Europe.
Amongst its short-term priorities, the company has identified the complete personalisation of compensation plans through the development of new services. Personal development plans and other items related to physical and emotional well-being are examples of this. These trends are gaining popularity and will enhance both the company’s reputation and the quality of life for its employees.
Recently, Cobee merged with key partners with ties to the human resources industry, including Factorial and Personio. To completely improve the project’s scalability in the medium term, the company will also create new tactical agreements with both domestic and foreign partners.
