Tech
Juno enables employees to pick their own benefits. Its founder walked us through the 10-slide pitch deck the startup used to raise $4 million.
subscribers.
Become an Insider
and start reading now.
Have an account? .
- 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.”
subscribers.
Become an Insider
and start reading now.
Have an account? .
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.
“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.
Juno
Fekaiki said that Juno was built to “appeal to a generation that’s used to fresh brands” — and has adopted a social-media-savvy approach to its marketing in order to attract the next generation of employees.
Juno
“Since 2019, we’ve kept the same vision, which is to create a new category,” said Fekaiki. “Prior to the pandemic, we saw a shift away from existing systems. We want to become the company that becomes synonymous with all the pain points of employees.”
Juno
Its aim is to give employers a “one-stop-shop for employees’ needs.”
“In a nutshell, we’re both a marketplace for brands and an expense platform. The virtual card lets you cover subscriptions and services, and we’re trusted by tech companies and agencies,” he added.
Juno
Fekaiki noted that employers have a duty of care to their employees — and after the shift to remote work, companies have been under increasing pressure to offer more inclusive perks.
“Following #MeToo and the climate change movement, people are showing that they’re not willing to put up with subpar conditions,” Fekaiki said.
Juno
Fekaiki said that Juno wants to change the way that employee benefits are perceived.
“I thought about benefits more as a lifestyle upgrade,” he told Insider. “How can we get people to not just see their employment as just a salary, but how the employer could help them out in their daily life.”
While traditional benefits are usually geared towards healthcare and pension plans, Juno’s expanded the services it offers to encompass learning and development outside of the workplace, from language courses to ceramics and cookery classes.
Juno
Fekaiki notes that its client Stuart, a B2B delivery platform, has also adopted Juno as a means to attract better talent — a growing trend among companies as labour markets become more competitive.
Juno
“When you look at markets, the L&D, wellbeing, and health insurance markets are massive,” Fekaiki said. “We can attract the budgets from all of those.”
Juno
Juno aims to have an international appeal and is using its scalable tech to cater to broad markets overseas.
“We find that globally, the needs of employees follow the same thing wherein they want security, but they also want to eat well, exercise, learn,” he said. “Our goal is to reach more people, show more employers that there’s a method to make employees and them happy.”
Juno
It’s started by aggregating a marketplace of perks on one platform, but in the future, it hopes to directly integrate its technology with HR platforms.
Juno
The pitch deck also offers a case study of its client Stuart.
“If you look at how Stuart uses it, it’s a global logistics business with six HQs,” Fekaiki said.
“Before Juno, they had vendors in every country, for different perks. Employees weren’t engaging so they consolidated everything with us. They use Juno for their global lunch allowance, mental health, and everything in between.”