12/12/2017 – Southeast Asia startup Helpster has announced today that it has raised a US$2.5 million pre-Series A round led by Mojo Partners and Wavemaker Partners.
Existing investors have also participated in the funding round which will bring the total investment to more than US$5 million since its inception in January 2016.
According to Helpster Chief Executive Officer Matthew Ward, the funding will go toward accelerating the product and the technology behind it, as well as investing in sales.
Helpster was co-founded by Ward and John Srivorakul, who have worked together for a decade co-founding famous startups and venture capital firms including Admax Network, Ardent Capital, Ensogo, and aCommerce.
Helpster currently has 60 staffs across Indonesia and Thailand, the two key markets it currently serves. The company acts as an on-demand staffing platform that provides businesses with instant access to qualified staff for temporary work as well as contract hiring needs.
Although Helpster is often compared to traditional job search websites, these comparisons are inaccurate. Helpster claims to be more than merely a simple app for job hunting.
“Helpster is different because we operate more like a staffing agency in that we manage the staffing process end-to-end. This includes screening, interviewing, and even payments,” Ward explained.
Ultimately, Helpster claims that they are reinventing the staffing agency model in the region, especially for millennials.
“Most of them have traditionally found work via offline channels, such as word-of-mouth, or via traditional staffing agencies, yet the majority now prefer to use their smartphones.”
“This has opened up the way for technology to improve the way businesses and these workers find and engage with each other. ”
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