‘Office in the Cloud’ startup Wurkr raises over £1 Mn in seed funding

Wurkr, the UK and India-based SaaS platform that enables teams to work together from anywhere in an immersive virtual workspace has raised over £1 million in seed funding to fuel the next stage of its growth. 

Hindustan Media Ventures Limited (HMVL), one of India’s largest media companies, led the funding round with an investment of £700,000, and £188,000 was raised through equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, where Wurkr beat its original funding target by 25 percent with over 200 investors taking part. Angel investor Yan van de Velde committed £100,000 as part of the Seedrs lead investment round, and an additional £100,000. Wurkr also exercised a Convertible Loan Note to secure further cashflow. 

Annil Chandel – CEO & Founder, Wurkr, commented: “We’re delighted with the outcome of our fundraising efforts. Wurkr is emerging as a startup success story, as we worked to expand during the pandemic crisis in an economically challenging landscape. Since our launch, we were able to develop the business without government grants, and this seed funding round helps to position us strongly for the next phase of our growth strategy. The incredibly high caliber of our investors is testament to the  very real and needed solution that Wurkr’s platform brings to the market.”  

Since its launch in 2018, Wurkr has expanded in the UK and Indian markets, with 88,000 subscribers and 2,400 organizations now using its product. Wurkr’s subscriber base has seen a 1,000 percent increase in the past year alone. The proceeds of this seed funding round will be used by the company to accelerate global growth, expand the team, further develop the product and maximize advertising and marketing activities.  

The work from home trend increased exponentially over the past decade, driven by advancements in digital technology, and the COVID-19 crisis precipitated a more fundamental shift in the future of the workplace. Post-pandemic, YouGov estimates that 57 percent of people want to continue working from home or another location. As organizations of all sectors and sizes look to introduce a more hybrid and flexible way of working, demand for solutions that cater to this need will only get stronger. 

It is this gap that Wurkr’s virtual workplace management platform addresses by replicating a physical office environment in the Cloud, backed by video technology. The solution is unique as it solves the productivity and isolation constraints associated with traditional remote working models, allowing distributed teams to work together in a fully engaged and collaborative way. 

Platforms like Wukr which will help companies rationalize their cost structure and yet allow employees to collaborate seamlessly and freely from anywhere will be much in demand as more and more companies adopt hybrid work models.