HR & BENEFITS PLATFORM FLARE RAISES $7 MILLION IN CAPITAL

AND LAUNCHES FLARE PAY MODULE

Launched just over a year ago, technology company Flare HR, has fast tracked its growth by securing $7 million in investor funding through its latest capital raising round.

Commencing with four partners, the team has grown to an impressive 35 employees in this short timeframe. The tech start-up offers revolutionary software that allows Australian HR managers and business owners access a cloud-based platform that fully handles all HR, digital employee on-boarding, training, internal communications, benefits and superannuation all in the one place.  To further amplify HR simplicity, the company will also launch its Flare Pay payroll module next month.

Founded by Jan Pacas (most recently Managing Director of Hilti Australia, CEO of the Year Australian HR Institute 2015 Winner, and Winner of Best Employer Award by AON Hewitt for 5 consecutive years), Daniel Cohen (CEO & Co-Founder of Park Assist), Saul Kaplan (Flare HR CTO), and Colin Mierowsky (Flare HR Solutions Architect), Flare has single-handedly disrupted the way Australian companies handle HR functions from closed, server-based structure to a flexible, open cloud-based system.

Jan says, “HR has become an increasingly complex eco-system and there is clearly a need for cloud based solutions that simplify the function for business leaders and employees alike.  Since our inception, we have secured over 100 clients including Peoplebank, Employsure, Bondi Pizza, GSA and many more, and have on-boarded over 40,000 employees.”

The company plans to reinvested funds into making the platform even more intuitive, catering to the needs of both organisations and their staff.  From an employer perspective, Flare is releasing Flare Pay in September, a payroll product that will help clients achieve full compliance with Single Touch Payroll by July 2018.  Functionality will also include full automation of payroll, advanced reporting and dashboards, as well as interactive payslips.

In addition, the integrated platform will be expanded further to allow best-in-class HR benefit partners connect their applications and services to Flare, giving employers increased functional capabilities in a single hub.

Employees who are on-boarded onto the platform will have access to even more benefits and will be able to further enhance their financial wellness.  Current users have demonstrated the capability to make better and more informed choices, particularly around the allocation and choice of superannuation, life insurance, and novated leases.

Having access to contracts, ATO forms, work policies and other essentials, as well as encouraged engagement through various rewards, has shown increased productivity, reduction in administration and paperwork, and the cumbersome need to engage with multiple systems.

Jan continues, “We’re facing a workforce that is becoming highly diverse, demanding and mobile. Managers are grappling daily with four generations – each with their own priorities and interests – working at the same time.

“Software that releases HR professionals from the shackles of administration, manually inputting information and sorting through paperwork, allows them to focus on the human element, developing strategy, upskilling staff and increasing engagement – the things on which brilliant companies are built.”

To date, Flare has largely seen their product taken up by medium-sized enterprises (from 100 up to 2,000 employees) that have traditional HR functions using spreadsheets, paper files and data across multiple systems. Flare benefits to HR professionals and employers include:

· Digital on-boarding and off-boarding which makes it simple to enrol a new employee into payroll, sign contracts and join a superannuation fund electronically.

· Employee management that includes leave, performance reviews, workflows and approvals,  alongside a digital directory.

· Real time analytics and reports, providing insights into how people can integrate and work better.

· A centralised learning hub with fully customisable content to facilitate company announcements, new policies and employee training.

· Comprehensive pre-uploaded compliance policies and templates, with approved changes and updates automatically populated across all connected HR software systems.

For employees, the financial wellbeing platform consolidates all benefits and provides access to comparisons and choices of products including superannuation, life insurance, health insurance, novated leases, mobile phone plans and retail discounts and huge savings at over 300 places such as David Jones, Myer and Woolworths, as well as access to services such as salary packaging, lost super consolidation, and online educational tools.

75%of Australian employees take the default option when it comes to superannuation.  Flare makes it possible for employees to pick a fund based on their personal needs, whilst improving their financial literacy.

“We know that great software contributes to a great employee experience.  We are seeing clients using the platform to get the most out of their people by growing engagement and culture, which is what we set out to do,” says Jan.

“We believe Flare will continue to transform the Australian HR space and take position as industry leader in managing the workforce of the future, and so do our investors.”

According to CB Insights research, the HR technology industry received over $2 billion in investment capital in recent years, propelling a fast-growing sector of new tools for recruitment, performance management, corporate culture and employee engagement.

Flare's software is provided free to small-to-medium-sized enterprises. Highly transparent, the company earns its revenue stream from the delivery of financial services and products such as superannuation, insurance and novated leasing.  However, employees are under no circumstance limited to products presented to them, and are able to choose services they are already affiliated with or any products of their own choosing.

Company Founders and Leadership:

Flare Co-Founder & Managing Director Jan Pacas is a multi award winning CEO with a passion for HR and people. In his last role at multinational, Hilti, Jan was awarded the 2015 ‘CEO of the Year’ from the Australian Human Resource Institute, as well as the ‘Aon Hewitt Best Employer of the Year’ award five years running. The Flare leadership team is rounded out by Co-Founder & Managing Director Daniel Cohen, Co-Founder & CTO Saul Kaplan and Co-Founder & Solutions Architect Colin Mierowsky.