HR platform Advantage Club raises $1 mn in pre-Series A round

Gurugram-based Work Advantage, which operates employee rewards platform Advantage Club, has raised $1 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by deep tech-focused early-stage investment firm GrowX Ventures. 

Accelerator and investment platform Axilor Ventures, seed-stage venture fund Sprout Venture Partners and angel network Mumbai Angels also participated in the round, according to a statement issued by the startup. 

Among other investors who participated in the pre-Series A round are IDFC Bank executive Avtar Singh Monga, Rahul Maroli, vice president of ride-hailing platform Ola, Rajnish Sinha, chief executive officer of recruitment platform Career Coach, Rohit Chanana, chief executive officer of advisory platform Sarcha Advisors and Vikas Bigaria, founder of Redcliffe Hygiene.

The capital will be leveraged to build deeper insights and to make the platform a more well-rounded offering for employees, said Sourabh Deorah, chief executive officer and co-founder, Advantage Club. 

"We are solving the core problem for a brand to be able to run targeted promotions for better audiences. Through Advantage Club, brands get access to employees from 250-plus companies and can run data-driven customised promotions," said Smriti Deorah, co-founder and chief operating officer,  Advantage Club. 

Founded in 2016 by former Microsoft software developer Sourabh Deorah and University of California alumni Smriti Deorah, Advantage Club is a tech-driven human resource platform that helps corporates improve employee engagement and retention by providing perks and rewards. 

Advantage Club had earlier raised $700,000 over two rounds of funding from Axilor Ventures, venture capital firm Purvi Ventures and Mumbai Angels, among other investors. 

Technology-driven HR platforms have been gaining a foothold in the Indian business ecosystem. 

In May, artificial intelligence (AI)-based HR platform Hyperhire raised $200,000 in a seed funding round from Seoul-based early-stage venture capital firm Springcamp. 

Bengaluru-based HR-tech startup Kredily raised $750,000 in its seed funding round led by Fosun RZ Capital, an affiliate of Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group. 

In February, it was reported that technology giant IBM would be leveraging its artificial intelligence platform Watson to foray into the HR-tech space in India.