A Bristol software firm founded by former Royal Marine Commandos has raised £1.6m to develop its AI-infused training platform.
Loopin, based at the 101 Victoria Street office complex in Redcliffe, was set up by Ben Williams and Antony Thompson, who became performance coaches after leaving the Armed Forces. The pair went on to train senior leaders with organisations such as Gymshark, tech giant Meta and the England football team.
The duo’s start-up business has designed a system that it says allows businesses to measure, manage and forecast team morale, and keeps staff, including those working remotely, “feeling connected”. The company, which has said it is aiming to boost the morale of one million employees by 2025, said its platform was currently in a developmental beta stage with 40 paying customers including recruitment firm Reed, online fashion retailer Farfetch and sportswear chain JD Sports.
Read next: Bristol It consultancy Symec acquired by US tech firm TRG
Following the six-figure raise in a seed funding from “high-net worth” business founders and angel investors, Loopin said it would look to scale its product towards general availability.
Mr Williams, Loopin’s chief executive said: “Coaching business leaders after leaving the Royal Marines, I was stunned to find that they had no way to measure and manage morale across the organisation in real-time. We built Loopin because morale is a metric that belongs on every board’s list of core KPIs. We’re excited to roll-out Early Access to help more companies that care about their people and their performance.”
The company’s chairman Stuart Neal, added: “At any one time, a staggering 45% of employees are actively thinking of leaving their job. The average cost of replacing an employee is £30,000 so the price businesses are paying for low morale is huge. Loopin has developed the first-ever metric for measuring morale and, combined with cutting-edge Generative AI, it’s going to transform the way all successful companies operate.”
Read next:
- Bristol jobs saved as software firm rescued from administration
- University of Bristol spin out raises £6.7m for smartphone chip tech
- Bristol-based finance firm reports growth in SME lending
- Growing Bristol finance firm makes fourth acquisition in nine months
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.
