Perth-based mental health and safety startup Tap into Safety has completed its first ever “serious” capital raise, landing a $750,000 investment from Dorado Capital as it sets its sights on expansion.
Founded in 2014 by husband and wife duo Susanne and Geoff Bahn, the business-to-business focused startup points its offerings at the big end of town, with two tech-driven platforms looking at hazard perception training and early-stage mental health intervention for employees.
“We’re focused on large businesses that already have employee mental health assistance programs in place already, or are on the journey of providing mental health assistance to staff,” co-founder Susanne Bahn tells StartupSmart.
She says the startup’s instructive mental health intervention program, ‘All of Me’, provides employers with predictive analytics on their workforce, identifying staff in the early stages of experiencing mental health concerns, and helping eradicate “ad hoc” approaches to mindfulness.
“It lets businesses tailor their programs for the staff who need it the most. Instead of an ad hoc, ‘we’re doing mindfulness this month’ approach, it lets the business decide that a certain group or demographic need the specific mindfulness training, and aim it at those staff rather than just generally,” Bahn says.
“Mental health for business is a massive issue. Twenty percent of all employees have mental health issues right now, and only 5% of those are being picked up. That means 15% are just sitting there.”
Unaddressed mental health issues can lead not only to serious health risks for employees, but to potentially expensive stress-related compensation claims for employers. Tap into Safety wants to nip the problems in the bud, preventing employees from becoming unwell and businesses from facing unexpected claims.
Though the company has received some private investments and some seed investments, Bahn says the $750,000 injection is the first “serious raise we’ve done”.
“In a short time Tap into Safety has shown that it has innovative solutions and has been able to support large sophisticated organisations as users. The platform has considerable application and with the right resources has the momentum to grow considerably,” Tim Moore, director of Dorado Capital said in a statement.
Tap into Safety will be looking to scale the business across Australia and eventually internationally. It is currently hiring business development managers for its Sydney and Melbourne operations.
“The product’s already built so we don’t need to spend any more there. We just need more legs on the ground,” Bahn says.
“2018 is about ramping up and making sure we have great staff to help us get the word out there, and pick up a whole new series of clients.”
When asked what advice she would give to founders looking to raise, Bahn says one of the simplest parts of ensuring an enjoyable capital raising process is one of the most obvious: make sure you like your investors.
“When you’re raising capital it’s actually like a marriage — be very careful who you get into bed with. You’re literally selling your baby,” she says.
“We’re very happy with Dorado Capital, but make sure you’re happy with whoever you pick, as you’re going to be with them for a very long time.”
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Dominic Powell is a journalist at SmartCompany and a tech and music geek. When he’s not writing, you can find him reading or browsing record shops.
