Fourteen months after graduating from the Launch36 accelerator program, ConquerPro of Moncton has installed its product with six paying corporate clients and is in talks with more.
The company, whose product was formerly known as GoLead, has developed software that monitors employees’ satisfaction and productivity in real time. It can help employers identify and engage with dissatisfied employees so they become more productive on the job and happier overall.
The company is now doing private tests with six clients, and has generated more than $100,000 in revenue in just a few months. By the end of the year, ConquerPro will be used by a total of 2,700 people.
“We have a really big lineup of channel partners in Canada and the U.S. and we’re in [discussions] with six of the top brands in the world,” said CEO Paula Morand in an interview. “Now that we have a product, we’re moving more quickly through the sales cycle.”
The company is in active sales talks with 45 organizations and companies, and Morand said these include a few that are large enough that a successful sale would put ConquerPro on a path to stability and success.
In early 2012, Morand took the company through the Launch36 accelerator, which prepares startups for investment and the market, and then adapted her software to meet the needs of her customers. The assessment of what the market wanted came after more than 100 corporate interviews. The product originally focused on the mental health of employees, but has since been modified to combat disengagement of employees. The founders focused on improving the user experience so the updated product is more intuitive. It assesses employees’ commitment and satisfaction, allows for feedback and recognition and helps employers take action to reduce disengagement.
“The biggest challenge to date has really been pushing through fear,” said Morand, who has been an entrepreneur for decades. “It’s a rollercoaster ride. I found a startup in the tech sector is just so hard and fast and you’re just trying to tread water and keep up all the time.”
Morand said employers lose about $350 billion a year due to employee disengagement because it leads to such problems as absenteeism or even presenteeism, which is people showing up at work when they’re ill or not at their best.
The company raised about $400,000 in seed investment earlier this year, and began testing ConquerPro with a group of clients. The company’s target segments so far are government, not-for-profits, professional services and call centres.
Now that ConquerPro is selling, Morand has set a target of having 30,000 people using the product by the end of next year. She is now raising another round of financing with a target of $1 million, which she plans to close this fall, and hopes to be cash-flow positive by the middle of 2014.
The company is opening a new office in London, Ontario, and it adding six employees to its current complement of four staff members.