Thriver raises $33 million for virtual workplace wellness

Thriver | 06 Aug 2020

Thriver said it has raised $33 million in a second round of funding as it moves beyond corporate food to the business of virtual health and wellness.

The funding will enable Toronto-based Thriver to expand its “workplace culture platform” and grow its team to execute on a mission that seems even more important during the pandemic — making sure employees are in a good state of mind to work.

The company started in 2016 as Platterz, with a mission of lifting corporate culture by providing employees with good food. Now rebranded as Thriver, the company is expanding, or maybe pivoting, from workplace food supply to employee culture programs that promote workplace wellness and employee engagement. Its new focus includes education, team building, and wellness, said Thriver cofounder and CEO Eran Henig in an email to VentureBeat. Henig said Thriver had always planned to move into new areas in 2021, with physical activities like Escape Rooms and other experiences. But because of the pandemic, it is now focusing on virtual workplace culture.

Virtual workplace culture

Thriver (while operating as Platterz) streamlined and standardized food-centric work culture programs throughout North America. It has served tens of thousands of daily meals to employees at over 2,000 companies, established partnerships with hundreds of restaurants, and processed more than $100 million in food-related orders.

The Thriver workplace culture platform currently includes virtual experiences, health and wellness initiatives, and professional development opportunities that bring employees together. Henig said this new mission addresses the pandemic’s impact on companies, which need to boost engagement and retention of employees who are forced to work from home. The idea is to create culture-driven programs that work just as effectively in the new hybrid and remote work reality as they do in traditional office environments.

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Thriver’s workplace culture offering includes the Treat Card, a reloadable prepaid card that gives remote employees funds to pay for corporate perks and office essentials. Similarly, Thriver’s Group Ordering capabilities, which are used to provide daily or weekly workplace meals for employees and catering for meetings, is a way to feed employees through individually packaged meals.

With its Virtual Experiences offering, Thriver also enables employees to connect through activities like group fitness, cooking classes, or mental health sessions. All activities are available through a centralized platform that helps teams track company spend and optimize ROI and facilitates interactive employee feedback through Slack integration.

The company began piloting programs that extend beyond food at the end of 2019.

“From the outset, we have always been focused on culture,” Henig said. “The vision has always been to master food and expand to additional culture-related verticals. Food remains an important pillar of focus for us, and with the expansion, there are now three other pillars: education, team building, and wellness.”

Henig said offerings from one customer include a weekly yoga class, a monthly cooking class, and mixology classes, as well as professional development sessions.

“The other thing that has prompted wellness as an area of focus is that life under the pandemic is very different now than it was six months ago,” Henig said. “And it will be even more different in the next year and beyond. With employees being isolated, wellness and mental health are a big area of focus for companies. With customers looking for a way to address this as part of their culture initiatives, we saw it as an opportunity to expedite our expansion to support this area.”

Viola Growth led the round, with participation from new investors Vertex Ventures Israel, Union Tech Ventures, Journey Ventures, and FJ Labs. Existing investors Aleph and Altair Capital also participated. Thriver currently has 75 employees.

Originally published in VentureBeat

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