As companies struggle to attract and retain talent, perks and benefits have become something of a recruiting arms race. As a result, vendors who help companies provide perks like saving money on services employees already use are hot.
One popular area that costs employers little is to offer employees a buying program. PerkSpot is one of these vendors. Founded in 2006 from his home in Chicago, Chris Hill has built a business that last week got a $50 million investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity. The funding marks PerkSpot’s first outside investment.
“We are excited to partner with SGE, who share our vision and growth aspirations for PerkSpot,” said Hill, who also serves as executive chairman at PerkSpot. “In leveraging SGE’s capital and deep expertise, we will continue expanding the service we provide to millions of employees from clients like Southwest Airlines, Walgreen’s, Adventist Health System, and Spotify.”
Such bootstrapped success stories are rare in any industry, let alone HR. By the numbers, the company employs 25, serves 700 customers and partners with over 1,000 businesses who offer the perks. Employees benefit by saving money and merchants get access to a large pool of potential customers. PerkSpot essentially serves as the middleman.
“We started kind of small with that, with a few discounts with Dell, Brooks Brothers, and a few other merchants, and we’ve just grown over time to nearly 1,000 merchants now,” said CEO Jace Mouse in an interview with Built In Chicago. “We’ll help an employee save money on anything from a movie ticket for the weekend to shoes for work, apparel, travel, or even new cars.”
PerkSpot says employees can save an average of $2,300 each year on purchases big and small. Workers get exclusive discounts on brands such as Apple, Samsung, AMC Theatres, and Target. The company says it has nearly tripled its revenue by focusing on employee needs.
The landscape is pretty full, so the money comes at a good time. Competitors like Bonusly, Fond, and Corporate Perks offer similar benefits with similar business models.