Culture-as-a-service platform Kaido has raised £400,000 in Seed funding, taking its total investment to almost £600,000. The round was led by Longrow Capital Finance with further funds from the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust via its SME Innovation Fund, in partnership with the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network and Mercia.

The Birmingham-based platform works with the likes of Google, HSBC and The Department of Health and Social Care to create meaningful connections amongst teams through inclusive shared experiences. In 2021 alone, over 40,000 employees took part in a Kaido Challenge - a digital team-building experience, with 88% of participants reporting feeling healthier and over three-quarters (76%) more connected to colleagues as a result.

Businesses can run a Kaido Challenge at any time and customise their Challenge to match their company values. At the end of each challenge, businesses receive a report that shows the impact the challenge has had, helping them better understand their team and what works for them.

As companies struggle to create a culture in a hybrid world, Kaido wants to fix employee engagement and inspire teams to come together. They will be using the investment to grow their team as they develop new products and scale the existing Health and Wellbeing Challenge offering, in preparation for raising a Series A round later in the year.

On the investment, CEO Rich Westman said: “Teams are crying out for a sense of shared experience as they navigate this new hybrid world. The current employee engagement model is broken, only helping a small percentage of a team. We want to create a world where every employee thrives and feels included, no matter where they are and we are delighted to partner with Longrow Capital to help make this a reality.”

Lead investor Dave Maclean, Director of Longrow Capital added: “Longrow Capital Finance invests at the very early stage, investing in extraordinary people who think outside the box, are committed to disrupting big markets and who want to change the world. Rich and Kaido are disrupting a big market and have the potential to create a large sustainable social and environmental impact with their innovative high-tech platform. We are excited to support the business in the next phase of its journey.”