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        Staffbase partnered with Microsoft to provide easier and cost-efficient access to Staffbase's communication tools for companies using Microsoft Azure services.
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        The partnership allows companies to purchase Staffbase's full suite of communication tools using their pre-allocated Azure budget (MACC credits), streamlining procurement and reducing vendor management complexity.
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        Staffbase's solutions include Intranet, Employee App, Email, and Microsoft 365 integrations, which aim to help organizations improve employee engagement and create a unified digital workplace experience for desk and frontline workers.
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    <a href="https://techrseries.com/employee-engagement/staffbase-partners-with-microsoft-to-offer-employee-communications-solutions-via-azure-marketplace/">
      TecHR
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Remote Work Infrastructure

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 <p>Staffbase has collaborated with Microsoft to offer easier and more economical access to their communication tools for businesses utilizing Microsoft Azure services.</p>
 <p>As a result of this partnership, companies can buy Staffbase's comprehensive selection of communication tools using their existing Azure budget (MACC credits), simplifying the purchasing process and decreasing complications related to vendor management.</p>
 <p>The suite of solutions offered by Staffbase include an Intranet, Employee App, Email, and integrations with Microsoft 365. These tools are designed to enhance employee engagement and create a cohesive digital work environment for desk and frontline employees.</p>
</div>

Staffbase partners with Microsoft to offer employee communication tools on Azure Marketplace to improve employee engagement

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 <p>Oyster, an HR platform, has successfully received new funding from ServiceNow Ventures. The total funding raised by Oyster to date reaches USD 291 million. Other organizations that have previously invested include HR Tech Investments, Indeed, LinkedIn, Okta, PayPal Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and the Slack Fund.</p>
 <p>The secured funds are marked for scaling Oyster. The goal is to develop solutions for customers and to enhance the range of products offered by the company.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> The investment follows the company's Series D round of USD 59 million to accelerate platform development in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/33261"> September 2024. </a> It <a href="https:<br>
//techcrunch.com/2024/09/04/as-remote-working-keeps-rolling-oyster-raises-59m-series-d-at-1-2b-valuation/#:<br>
~:<br>
text=We%E2%80%99ve%20grown%20significantly%20%E2%80%A6%20more%20than%207x%20in%20two%20years%2C%20and%20we%20improved%20our%20margins%20tremendously"> reports </a> a 7x growth accompanied by improved profit margins, suggesting strong investor confidence in its trajectory.</p>

Oyster raises new funding to improve platform

<div>
 <p>Paycor HCM, a leading provider of human capital management software, has announced the launch of Paycor Assistant, its latest AI-enabled HR tool, available from Spring 2025.</p>
 <p>Paycor Assistant comes equipped with several innovative features designed to simplify HR processes. These include an intelligent search function with a conversational interface for processing HR requests; an HR Assist feature, enabled by GenAI technology, for locating and summarising key company documents; and a dedicated Admin Insights dashboard that provides vital productivity metrics derived from usage data, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and employee feedback.</p>
 <p>Paycor maintains the new AI assistant will significantly cut down administrative tasks and accelerate responses to HR-related inquiries. This development gives leadership more time to focus on strategic objectives such as talent management and enhancing business performance. Paycor Assistant is the latest addition to Paycor's suite of AI-powered solutions, which include intelligent skills management, candidate sourcing, and sentiment analysis capabilities.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> After acquiring Talenya in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/13836"> October 2022 </a> , Paycor <a href="https:<br>
//www.paycor.com/hcm-software/smart-sourcing/"> integrated </a> Talenya's AI-driven recruiting technology into its product suite as "Paycor Smart Sourcing.” This recent development seems to build on this acquisition and integrate AI into Paycor's product offering.</p>

Paycor launches AI HR assistant for employee management to streamline HR-related interactions and queries

<div>
 <p>HiBob, a provider of a human resource management platform, has introduced Bob Learning, a new module within their platform Bob that is aimed at learning and development. This module can be combined with external course providers such as Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and Go1.</p>
 <p>The unique offering of Bob Learning is its ability to combine both in-house and external courses along with its AI-powered course creating ability. It offers personalized learning paths, supports multiple media formats, provides central progress tracking, and can be seamlessly combined with other modules in the Bob HR platform. This facilitates optimum use of existing employee data for their development goals.</p>
 <p>According to HiBob, this centrally managed learning solution is designed to enhance the capabilities of the workforce, increase employee satisfaction and retention, aid in succession planning, and contribute to creating a culture focused on high performance and learning.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> The newly launched "Bob Learning" module aims to enhance employee skill-building through a streamlined, accessible learning system. This addition could strengthen HiBob’s platform by centralizing L&amp;D efforts, likely boosting engagement and supporting long-term workforce development initiatives.</p>

HiBob launches learning and development module Bob Learning to enhance workforce capability

<div>
 <p>Fingercheck, an HR software firm, has secured USD 115 million in growth funding. The round was lead by Edison Partners and saw contributions from StepStone Group and Columbus Capital.</p>
 <p>This investment will be used to support Fingercheck's market expansion and solidify its competitive stance in the industry. Concurrently, Dan Kazan has been appointed as the new CEO of the company.</p>
 <p>Headquartered in New York, Fingercheck provides payroll and human resource software solutions to small businesses. Their platform includes a wide set of management tools, incorporating aspects of job posting, employee onboarding, payroll processing, scheduling, and shift management.</p>
 
</div>

Fingercheck raises USD 115 million in growth funding to support expansion

<div>
 <p>XP Health, a digital-first vision care platform, has partnered with Employee Navigator and Bennie to extend their vision care services. Through Employee Navigator, XP Health will provide six pre-packaged vision programs at employer-sponsored and employee-voluntary levels without needing individual quotes. The Bennie collaboration enables customers to access XP Health through Bennie's Employer Marketplace, simplifying the task for administrators to choose benefit options.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> These partnerships follow XP Health's USD 33.2 million Series B funding in <a href="https:<br>
//techcrunch.com/2024/09/12/xp-health-grabs-32m-to-bring-employees-more-affordable-vision-care/"> September 2024 </a> and aim to simplify vision care benefits administration while reportedly eliminating complexity and wait times for quoting.</p>

XP Health partners with Employee Navigator and Bennie to expand vision care services

<div>
 <p>HR technology platform Cascade AI has accumulated USD 3.75 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Gradient and included contributions from Myriad Venture Partners and Success Venture Partners.</p>
 <p>The funding will be used to enhance and expand the platform based on customer feedback. This is in response to increased demand due to early success with customers.</p>
 <p>The Cascade AI platform, GenAI, supports human resources functions at an individual employee level. This includes aspects such as benefits, total rewards, employee onboarding and offboarding, and open enrollment.</p>
</div>

Cascade AI raises USD 3.75 million in seed funding to expand platform

<div>
 <p>Wrapbook, a payroll startup company, has successfully raised a financing of USD 20 million from Bessemer Venture Partners in equity funding.</p>
 <p>This funding is intended to increase its remote employee base from approximately 280 to 400, to enhance its competitiveness against the established names in the entertainment payroll technology industry.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> The last funding round, held in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/6630"> November 2021 </a> , marked Wrapbook's achievement of unicorn status with a USD 100 million Series B investment. This recent funding round is important financially and strategically, as it helps drive the company's expansion efforts.</p>

Wrapbook raises USD 20 million in equity financing to expand workforce

<div>
 <p>Zorro, a company known for its ICHRA administration platform, has recently launched a comprehensive range of platform enhancements aimed at brokers. These upgrades have been specifically developed to streamline the process of selling and administrating Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs).</p>
 <p>Some of the notable add-ons include a self-service quoting tool that offers real-time quotes and allocation models, simplified onboarding process via shared controls between brokers and Zorro, a transparent enrollment system offering complete access to employee data, and a new integrated payment system dubbed 'Zorro Pay.' Furthermore, the platform now boasts of payroll integration with a plethora of providers and enhanced compliance reporting and filings.</p>
 <p>According to Zorro, these newly integrated features will aid brokers in generating proposals ten times faster, effectively manage broker profiles, supervise employee enrollments more efficiently, completely eliminate any delays in carrier application submissions, reduce employer risks and efficiently manage compliance-associated tasks.</p>
</div>

Zorro releases platform enhancements for brokers to improve efficiency

<div>
 <p>Ayraa, a company that offers solutions for workplace productivity, has launched Ayraa 2.0, a knowledge management platform powered by AI. The platform's goal is to improve workplace efficiency with quick and accurate retrieval and management of information.</p>
 <p>The features of Ayraa 2.0 include advanced search capabilities, carefully curated knowledge bases, and smart tools for meetings. The platform uses a multi-threaded architecture said to enhance processing speed, provides semantic scoring and optimized indexing for accurate search results, and includes an AI-driven meeting assistant for transcriptions and summaries.</p>
 <p>According to the company, Ayraa 2.0 simplifies the decision-making process and makes workflows more efficient by offering centralized data insights and allowing users to create their own personal knowledge bases.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> Ayraa’s only funding round occurred in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/1326"> June 2021 </a> , and the launch of Ayraa 2.0 is considered a key development for the company. The AI-powered knowledge management platform will help companies enhance employee productivity by providing quick and accurate information retrieval.</p>

All Updates

Staffbase partners with Microsoft to offer employee communication tools on Azure Marketplace to improve employee engagement

Oyster raises new funding to improve platform

Paycor launches AI HR assistant for employee management to streamline HR-related interactions and queries

HiBob launches learning and development module Bob Learning to enhance workforce capability

Fingercheck raises USD 115 million in growth funding to support expansion

XP Health partners with Employee Navigator and Bennie to expand vision care services

Cascade AI raises USD 3.75 million in seed funding to expand platform

Wrapbook raises USD 20 million in equity financing to expand workforce

Zorro releases platform enhancements for brokers to improve efficiency

Ayraa launches knowledge management platform Ayraa 2.0 to enhance workplace efficiency

Remote Work Infrastructure

Staffbase partners with Microsoft to offer employee communication tools on Azure Marketplace to improve employee engagement

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