Corporate Culture Management Platform Swile Eyes Market Expansion in 2020-2021

French corporate coupon management startup Swile (formerly Lunchr) has raised $78.7 million in Series C funding. The latest funding round was led by Bpifrance- Large Venture fund. Existing investors Index Ventures and Idinvest also participated in this round. The total funding since 2018 is $130 million.

Swile is well-positioned as a fintech-HR tech platform that brings in real-time corporate management solutions with a completely digitized app-based engagement for meal coupons and voucher holders.

Currently, the company has 230 employees, 210,000 users and 8,000 corporate customers.

In the coming months, Swile is expected to utilize the finances to expand the company’s footprint into new markets, especially in Brazil. It will also expand its current service offerings.

Swile offers employee rewards and benefits through mobile app and customized card to buy for corporate meals or sponsor a lunch with the team members. It is widely acclaimed by employees as a gift voucher that can be redeemed as a restaurant voucher across a wide network of merchants and outlets.

In the next few weeks, Swile employee benefits card would be merged with customized mobile apps, holiday offers and gift vouchers to expand ‘fit-for-all’ corporate culture solution. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has affected work culture negatively, Swile is making things easier for the workers who are committed to building and strengthening their corporate culture by holding lunch and dinner meets using social distance norms. The app comes with sound notifications, meeting alerts, and even budget management dashboard to help HR teams manage employee’s lunch coupons.

In 2020, Swile is targeting global markets. It will start with Brazil, and then target other nations.

Why Brazil?

Because, Brazil is one of the biggest global employee benefits market, with 15 million registered employees with verified email/digital meal vouchers. In 2021, Swile would expand its marketing and sales teams in Europe.

Founded as Lunchr in 2018, the EU-based digital engagement platform currently leads the French startup ecosystem. In February 2019, the company had raised $34 million in Series B. Following its tie-up with global payments solution platform VISA, Swile earned its rebranded status from Lunchr.

Swile’s aim is to transform the employee benefits and rewards market with 100% paper-less capabilities.

At the time of the latest Series C funding round, Loïc Soubeyrand, founder and CEO of Swile said, “This fundraising allows us to broaden our offer and develop internationally with ambition following the success encountered in France. Our market is global, resilient, and growing rapidly. The recent health crisis has also confirmed the fundamental movement towards the dematerialization of service vouchers, and the importance of team cohesion, which offers us very good prospects for the future.”

What do Investors feel about Swile App?

For Charlotte Corbaz, participation director of Bpifrance Large Venture says-

“We are delighted to join the Swile adventure and to support the management team in their new development projects. Swile is fully in line with Bpifrance’s Large Venture fund strategy, which is to support hyper-growth companies.”

“Since our investment in Series A in 2018, Swile has had an exceptional growth trajectory. The team has grown from 15 to 200 people while retaining rare operational speed and excellence. We are convinced that Swile’s potential can lead it to an IPO and a valuation that is in the billions,” comments Jonathan Userovici who made the investment at Idinvest Partners.

“The explosion of new working methods is forcing companies to develop solutions and to strengthen the commitment and cohesion of employees, wherever they are found. Thanks to its application and its easy-to-use prepaid card, Swile is the solution ideal for companies wishing to meet the diverse needs of their employees. These wage benefits, particularly meal vouchers, help support savings local by generating additional expenses in restaurants and small shops. They, therefore, represent a key lever for governments keen to support industries pacted by the COVID-19 crisis. ” comments Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures.

Source: Swile; Translated from French to English using Google Translate app