The global employee relocation management market is witnessing a surge as millions of employees are working remotely indefinitely since the outbreak of COVID-19. A survey by IBM discovered that 54 percent of people working remotely now would like to continue doing so after the pandemic as well. This is where London-based Perchpeek, an AI-powered relocation agent also known as the ‘Tinder for renting’ comes in.
£2M funding
Recently, the tech startup has bagged £2M funding led by early-growth experts Episode 1.
The AI-powered app has evolved into a global relocation service as it provides available properties and relocation services for its users. The app ensures that users find the perfect place, be it home or abroad.
The other investors that took part in the funding round are from the UK, US, Germany, Dubai, Saudi, Pakistan and Montenegro. Also, angel investors – Kevin Felix of ScotiaBank, Jahed Rahman of Aldar and Kris Rudeegraap of Sendoso took part in the funding round.
Perchpeek will use the investment to fuel its international expansion aimed to increase its portfolio from 47 to more than 160 countries by Q3 this year. Also, the London relocation service intends to grow its US sales team.
Damien Lane, co-founder and partner at Episode 1, said: “Thousands of companies are grappling with the new world of work where employees are remote and therefore free to live anywhere. Traditional “ex-pat” solutions are far too localised and expensive to support this new cadre of relocator and we see the opportunity for Perchpeek to become the leader in supporting the future of migration.”
Simplifies relocation for employees
Founded by former Amazon executive Paul Bennett, Oliver Markham and Dr Aasis Vinayak in 2018, Perchpeek has developed a unique global relocation service, which is transforming the industry. The brings together AI-powered recommendations and relocation experts to curate properties along with additional services for users. Recommendations become more tailored to the users so that they can find the perfect time for them.
The Perchpeek app is designed to help employees at all stages of relocation from hunting a house to taking virtual tours of schools and organising utilities setups. Combined with 24/7 in-app customer support, this technology helps guide employees through each stage of their move and reduces anxiety time, stress and money involved in the process.
Bennett explained: “Perchpeek’s technology is a game-changer for most companies who can now offer high quality, affordable relocation support to employees of any level wanting to move to any country or city in the world.”
In addition to this, the London company also supports corporate clients by providing a real-time dashboard to the HR teams to show them where each employee is in their relocation, the cost of living in various areas and visibility of how many days an employee has spent in each tax code. This service has attracted many major businesses including Unilever, Red Hat, and Liberty Global.
Bennett added: “We have ambitious plans for 2021 as Covid restrictions hopefully lift. Not only will we see more employees seeking to work from anywhere, but we’ll also see more big corporates adapting their real estate footprint to accommodate more flexible remote work policies as they see the combination of cost savings and an improved culture that a successful hybrid model can produce.”
Over the past year, Perchpeek has helped over 1,000 employees relocate to 47 countries, thereby helping companies save nearly 50 to 70 per cent in relocation fees.
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