- A startup enabling employees to choose their own benefits raised $4 million from Hoxton Ventures.
- London-based Juno offers over 5,000 services, from childcare to food delivery, to clients globally.
- Founder and CEO Ally Fekaiki took Insider through the pitch deck used to raise the funds.
A startup that’s curated an employee benefits marketplace where workers can choose their perks has raised $4 million from Hoxton Ventures.
London-based Juno launched in 2019 after founder and CEO Ally Fekaiki experienced how prevalent workplace burnout was — and realized that employee benefits weren’t catered to everyone’s needs.
“The reason why benefits or perks have been under-utilized is because there’s no one size fits all,” he told Insider. “The idea was to give employees the power and flexibility to make their own choices.”
Employers give employees money for their perks in the form of ‘Juno points’, which they can use to access a range of over 5000 services, from fitness and food delivery boxes to childcare. The startup also offers a Juno card to enable employees to use subscription-based services, and has the option of reimbursing existing services — like childcare or therapy — in almost 40 different currencies, Fekaiki said.
The startup counts the likes of ride-hailing company Bolt, rapid delivery startup Zapp, and HR platform Oyster, among its customers.
Juno makes its money through commission on vendor purchases — and has recently introduced an admin fee for brands who want to sell via its platform. For an extra fee, it also offers companies an opportunity to promote their services on Juno’s social media pages.
Fekaiki found that Juno attracted investor attention because it was a “category new” in the future of work sector, which has witnessed a pandemic-fueled boom as employers accommodate to “shifting employee values.”
“The pandemic didn’t invent anything new, but it made us confront the existing issues we’d been living, such as flexibility and remote work,” he said. “It reminded us that our system wasn’t set up to be human first, and we’ve seen an incredible embrace of a more empathetic way of approaching work.”
The round was led by London-based VC firm Hoxton Ventures, which has backed healthtech heavyweights such as Babylon Health and Clue, with participation from strategic angels Tony Jamous, CEO of OysterHR, and Christian Owens, CEO of Paddle. This brings the startup’s total funding to $19.47 million.
“Technological advancement and the new generation of digital natives make up our market,” said Fekaiki. “So we’ve focused on building a brand that’s genuinely appealing to modern professionals.”
Fekaiki took Insider through the 10-slide pitch deck Juno used to raise the fresh funds — check it out below.
https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-benefits-juno-raised-4-million-with-this-pitch-deck-2022-4
