Promising revenue and funding indicate a bright future for these specialized firms. But they have to address crucial issues first, like building trust.

Covid-19 has caused a global reset, pushing many white-collar jobs to pivot to remote or hybrid work, but the situation looked very different for shift workers, given the industries they worked in were perhaps hit hardest by the pandemic. On Prime Time, host Bharati Jagdish speaks with Mat Ward, CEO, Workmate to find out how they are making a difference in the region's shift-based workforce and transforming the way businesses work with their shift-based workforce. Workmate is a Singapore-based on-demand staffing platform, and it has been recently acquired by Persol Asia Pacific, one of the region’s largest HR service providers.

Workmate plans to leverage Persol’s resources and infrastructure to power its expansion into markets such as Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Jakarta, May 10, 2022 – Workmate, a startup that connects blue-collar workers with employers in Southeast Asia, has appointed Andrew Senduk to lead the company's Indonesian office as Managing Director. He is tasked with accelerating growth for Workmate’s key staffing business in target industries and realizing the company’s vision to organize the informal workforce in Indonesia.

As in previous years, the FT’s list is dominated by technology start-ups, which have faced less difficulty operating across borders than those that provide physical goods and services. Some 32 per cent of companies are in the technology or fintech sectors, compared with 28.8 per cent of companies the previous year. One multinational company on the FT ranking is fourth-placed Workmate, a Singapore-headquartered tech business that operates in Thailand and Indonesia. Founder and chief executive Matthew Ward describes its online platform as “Uber for manpower”, connecting manufacturers and delivery businesses with the blue-collar workers they need on demand.

This fourth annual FT ranking of 500 of the Asia-Pacific region’s high-growth companies — compiled in partnership with research provider Statista — is the most competitive to date.

Workmate, a firm combining technological expertise with essential human resources services, clinched the top spot in a ranking of the fastest-growing firms in Singapore. Workmate founder and chief executive Mathew Ward said: "Given that Workmate delivers manpower for front-line roles, we did see a drop in demand from our customers in food and beverage establishments and events. However, we saw a big surge in demand from our customers in e-commerce logistics and food delivery. The big surge in these sectors drove strong overall growth for the company during the pandemic." Serving the logistics, e-commerce and food and beverage industries, the firm provides an end-to-end platform that integrates automation tools, real-time performance data and a network so that companies can have full visibility over their blue-collar workforce.

Workmate beat over a thousand submissions to make it top of a list of fastest-growing companies compiled by The Straits Times and Germany-based global research firm Statista. The ranking, now in its fourth year, features 75 Singapore-based firms that achieved markedly high revenue growth between 2017 and 2020 and takes into account revenue growth over the three-year period.

Singapore-headquartered Workmate, which offers an end-to-end online staffing platform, announced today that it has received a US$10 million loan from the UK-based lending platform Lendable. The startup has raised a total of US$15.2 million so far from a slew of investors, including Atlas Ventures, Gobi Partners, and Beacon VC, the corporate venture capital arm of Kasikornbank, With the fresh funds, Workmate intends to onboard more workers in Indonesia and Thailand.

RLC Recruitment has announced a new partnership with Workmate that is aimed at leveraging technology to streamline workforce management processes for its clients in the blue-collar industries.

Mathew Ward is the founding CEO of Workmate, an end-to-end workforce management platform with a fully integrated worker network, custom-built to enable the blue-collar workforce. Workmate provides businesses with full visibility on their entire workforce through automating hiring, onboarding, scheduling, attendance, and performance reporting processes in one seamless system, while leveraging a qualified network of 50,000+ pre-vetted workers ready to fill gaps.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a growing impact on the global economy and rising unemployment in many countries. As the crisis unfolds, informal workers remain vulnerable to economic shock, while many of them need assistance to locate new employment and earn reliable income. Those who need such support can turn to a platform called Workmate.

Singapore-headquartered Workmate (formerly Helpster), which connects blue-collar workers with employers in Southeast Asia, has raised US$5.2 million in a series A round led by early-stage VC fund Atlas Ventures.

Southeast Asian end-to-end staffing platform Workmate (formerly Helpster) announces that it has closed a Series A funding round of US$5.2 million, led by Atlas Ventures with participation by Gobi Partners and Beacon Venture Capital (Beacon VC), the corporate venture capital arm of Kasikornbank PLC. (KBANK), with existing investors also participating in the round.

SINGAPORE-based end-to-end staffing platform Workmate (formerly Helpster) announced that it closed a Series A funding round of US$5.2 million (RM21.52 million), led by Atlas Ventures with participation by Gobi Partners and Beacon Venture Capital (Kasikorn Bank), with existing investors also participating in the round.

Helpster, a two-year-old startup that connects blue-collar workers with employers in Southeast Asia, has closed $2.5 million in new funding.

Online temporary staffing platform Helpster announced that it closed a pre-series A funding round of US$2.5 million led by Mojo Partners and Wavemaker partners. All of Helpster’s existing investors also participated in the round.

Helpster, a Southeast Asian startup that helps companies fill short-term staffing needs, announced today it has raised a US$2.5 million pre-Series A round led by Mojo Partners and Wavemaker Partners.

Helpster, a Thailand-based on-demand staffing platform is connecting companies with blue collar workers when they need extra hands. ecommerceIQ sat down with the startup’s CEO and co-founder Mathew Ward to talk about the ins and outs of his business.

Helpster, a Bangkok-based company that matches employers with people seeking blue-collar jobs, has banked $2.1 million to expand across Southeast Asia.

Helpster, a Thailand-based company that helps blue collar workers find jobs, announced today it has raised a US$2.1 million Seed Round led by Convergence Ventures.

Helpster, a Bangkok-based startup that finds temporary and permanent blue-collar employees for businesses, announced closing a US$2.1 million seed round today. Indonesia’s Convergence Ventures led the round with Wavemaker Partners and other investors participating.