Innovative social wellness platform Givhero has just received new investment from partners including TEDCO, the University of MD Momentum Fund and others. See how helping employees care about wellness increases productivity and reduces company costs for tech company Givhero.

Givhero, Inc. (“Givhero”), an employee well-being platform that leverages employees’ intrinsic motivation to increase adoption, retention, and engagement in well-being programs, closed its SEED round with participation from Conscious Venture Fund II, Swerve Limited, TEDCO and other angel investors in addition to the University System of Maryland Momentum Fund. Givhero leverages charitable causes, challenges, peer recognition, team competition and gamification strategies to enhance the employee experience.

Givhero is increasing program adoption and engagement in employee wellness programs which reduces absenteeism and increases productivity for employers. Current wellness programs have low adoption rates, high administrative burden, and low program engagement. Covid-19 has magnified some of these problems. Using their unique approach to wellness, most of Givhero’s clients have increased program participation by 50% over previous programs and their retention and engagement in wellness programs is more than 90%.

“We fundamentally care about improving the well-being of employees and supporting the community causes they care about, for maximum social impact. We have an enterprise product with years of actionable data.” said Vishal Chintawar, Founder of Givhero. “We have been a great resource for our clients across the globe especially by leveraging our virtual programs during the remote work environment.”

Designed to be easy to implement and participate, the employer pays an annual SaaS fee and funds employee selected nonprofit causes through healthy behaviors.

“Vishal is driven, focused, and very coachable, but is in a busy, fragmented space. That said, this technology is quite advanced, the strategy of giving back to non-profits is unique and personalized, and the company has seen an excellent growth trajectory” said Claire Broido Johnson, Managing Director of the Maryland Momentum Fund. “We look forward to the data that proves employee retention and more and are pleased that 90% of Givhero’s members say the connection to local charities motivated them to meet their health goals. Employers, especially during the pandemic, have had to find new innovative ways to engage remote employees and keep them healthy.”

“One of the most important societal issues being addressed by companies today is the lack of employee engagement. According to a recent Gallup survey, in 2021 66% of U.S. employees were either disengaged or actively disengaged in their work. Not only is working in an organization that doesn’t care for your well-being a soul crushing way to live, with the requisite impacts on society at large. It’s estimated that this is costing U.S. companies between $400-$500 billion dollars each year,” said Jeff Cherry, Founder and Managing General Partner of Conscious Venture Partners.  “The Givhero team is focused on curing this problem for companies in a unique way that also improves employee wellness. We believe that is bound to create a business that cares for all stakeholders. A true win-win-win situation and we are proud to be on this journey with them.”

“TEDCO invests in tech companies that not only provide a cutting-edge product or service, but also demonstrate an exemplary business model. Givhero provided us an excellent example of this through its technological innovation and well-established customer demand,” said Jean-Luc Park, senior director of TEDCO’s Social Impact Funds. “Givhero’s focus on sales and innovation, tied to their core goals of healthier employers and increased community support for nonprofits, bode well for their future success.”