A volunteering app is to set up a tech hub in the North East after securing £1m investment in the region.
onHand, which makes volunteering easier for company employees, has raised £1m in an investment round led by Northstar Ventures via the North East Innovation Fund.
The investment has been backed by the UK Research and Innovation’s Healthy Ageing Challenge and by angel investors including Dhiraj Mukherjee, co-founder of Shazam. The funds will enable onHand to further invest in its technology, including the creation of a North East Tech Hub.
Launched in 2019, the app offers businesses a way to engage and support employee wellbeing in the new world of work.
It has been used by Newcastle Building Society to help employees complete more than 1,000 sessions to help local communities. A new study conducted in association with The National Innovation Centre for Ageing shows micro-volunteering with onHand boosted employee wellbeing by 80%.
Founder Sanjay Lobo said: “According to Deloitte, 77% of employees say volunteering is ‘essential’ to employee wellbeing. The problem is only 38% agree their employer supports their volunteering needs with engaging solutions.
“In the last year, Deloitte also found an ‘unprecedented’ rise in employee loyalty for organisations that meet their employees’ need for purpose. That’s a trend that will only increase: the companies that will win in the future are those focused on responsible business and the shift to profit with purpose.
“We’re making that transition simple for all forward-thinking businesses, fulfilling multiple employee wellbeing needs at the same time.”
onHand was set up in collaboration with six of the UK’s largest charities and aims to combat some of society’s biggest challenges by matching employees with activities such as food waste and homelessness, befriending phone calls, shopping for elderly people, youth mentoring and clean up sessions.
It works by setting up short volunteering sessions - typically less than an hour - that can be fitted around people’s busy work lives.
Dominic Endicott, from NorthStar Ventures, said: “Northstar believes that the next innovation wave is about impact at scale. In the UK alone there are up to 20m potential volunteers and 10m care recipients or caregivers, urgently needing support.
“onHand is the first cloud platform to enable volunteers and those needing support to be matched via an App, using geolocation, security checks, and machine learning to deliver the best experience to both sides.
“Employers know that volunteering improves the satisfaction and ultimately the productivity of their employees, and thus are key partners in onHand’s rapid UK expansion. We are excited to become an early investor in onHand’s journey, and for the North East of England to become an exemplar region for onHand.”
