In a nutshell
- Czech FaceUp, an all-in-one anonymous reporting platform fostering a speak-up culture within professional and academic environments, has closed a $3M late seed round. The round was led by Reflex Capital, with participation from Tilia Impact Ventures, supported by the European Investment Fund, and Lighthouse Ventures.
- The new funding will be used to continue scaling across the US, Latin America, and the Middle East.
- Upcoming product developments include an AI assistant, a feature for assessing team morale, an anonymous Q&A tool tailored for meetings, and an extension for survey solutions.
Addressing bullying beyond the classroom
One out of every five students report being bullied. However, this issue often extends beyond the school environment, continuing to affect individuals in the workplace. FaceUp is a platform aiming to tackle this issue, embracing speak-up culture in organizations worldwide. Originally conceived as a non-profit and educational anti-bullying platform for students, FaceUp combines anonymous reporting, survey solutions, audience engagement, and possible use cases. The company was founded in 2017 by Jan Slama, David Spunar and Pavel Ihm.
“We initially gained significant popularity with our school version—FaceUp was used by one in every three schools in the Czech Republic,” shared company representatives for The Recursive.
They added that the success caught the attention of businesses and their employees, who began asking if they could create a similar platform tailored for corporate use. “The decision to pivot to a SaaS model was driven by demand from companies who were reaching out to us directly.”
Another turning point was the onset of COVID-19. With schools closed, bullying decreased significantly, making their platform less relevant in that space. The potential for growth in that sector was limited.
This led them to explore new directions, such as supporting victims of domestic violence. At the same time, they began expanding the platform into corporate settings as well.
“Of course, there was also a business motivation behind the pivot, as we saw greater opportunities for expansion and impact,” the company representatives said.
FaceUp secures $3M to expand global reach and enhance features, promoting speak-up culture
Currently, FaceUp integrates legal and ESG compliance with a focus on driving mindset change by promoting a speak-up culture within organizations. The company just announced they had raised $3M in a late seed round. The funding was led by the Czech early-stage fund Reflex Capital, with support from Tilia Impact Ventures, the European Investment Fund, and Lighthouse Ventures.
The funds raised will help fuel FaceUp’s continued global expansion in the US, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as creation of new features. This includes an AI assistant, an extended survey solution, an anonymous Q&A tool for meetings, and a team morale assessment feature. Almost 20,000 reports have been filed on the platform since the company’s founding in 2017.
“The FaceUp team figured out how to transform a non-profit initiative for schools into a profitable business without sacrificing that founding mission of social impact. We believe this is not a nice-to-have product but an essential tool of major importance for corporate and government entities, so the potential for growth across markets is enormous,” said Ondřej Fryc, Founder of Reflex Capital.
Currently, FaceUp serves over 1,500 corporate clients and 2,000 educational institutions across more than 60 countries, with offices located in Charleston, Dubai, Prague, Brno, Cheb, and Kampala.
According to their data, FaceUp has already achieved profitability and ARR above $1.5M.
With the aim to foster employee well-being and retention
A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that a positive company culture makes employees 68% less likely to consider leaving their job.
FaceUp’s encrypted platform provides employees with the ability to anonymously and safely report any types of issues with someone in their organization able to help them. This aims to create a safer and more productive environment both in the short term and long term.
“More and more, companies understand that employee wellbeing and productivity go hand in hand. Now that we have demonstrated the potential for scalability across industries and geographies, we will use the new funding round to broaden and improve our tools and accelerate our efforts in the US in particular, as well as Latin America, and the Middle East,” explained Jan Sláma, Co-Founder and CEO of FaceUp.
