Quan raises $1.1m from 4impact, Y Combinator and others to combat employee burn-out

The Hague, Netherlands - The business world is facing an unprecedented mental health crisis. Burnouts are on the rise, and companies are grappling for solutions. Quan has raised $1.1m in pre-seed funding led by Y Combinator with participation from 4impact, 3C ventures, Noor van Boven and Anna Brandt (Invested). Quan addresses the gap between engagement surveys and well-being perks, and gives companies a concrete way to break the vicious cycle of employee burn-out.

About Quan

Quan was founded by Arosha Brouwer and Lucy Howie. As the first female-led Dutch startup to be accepted into YC, the US-based accelerator provides Quan the perfect platform to leverage its co-founders’ collective domain expertise working at and with multinational giants such as PwC, Zalando and TNT (FedEx).

The recent pandemic has created a heightened awareness of mental-health issues at work, and this, combined with global movements such as the great resignation are telling us one thing: our system is broken. Organizations play an important role however. In many cases the pursuit of mindless high performance has been breeding toxic work cultures and amplifying work stress. Too many companies are still attempting to address these issues with arbitrary tools like engagement surveys (where nothing much is done with the data) and generic well-being perks such as wellness app subscriptions and yoga sessions - which quite often have low adoption and low impact.

After more than a year researching the topic, Quan has compiled the conclusions from more than 150+ scientific and academic papers and spoken to over 300 global experts (including doctors, psychologists and therapists, among others) to identify over 20 sub-dimensions of well-being underpinned by more than 200 predictors.

4impact on Quan

"Employee wellbeing is a huge topic", says Kate Mullord, partner at 4impact capital. "The SaaS based solution from Quan has a place in every forward-leaning organisation and fits well within our health and wellbeing investment pillar. Their scientifically backed approach covering wellbeing at corporate, team and individual level within an organisation really enables employers to proactively address issues with employee wellbeing. Quan's rapid growth in customer interest highlights the underlying demand as well as the strength of the impressive team led by Arosha and Lucy. We are excited to support Quan with our resources and expertise."

Jill Murray, CMO at Arcadis shares her team’s experience over the last year: “At Arcadis, our greatest asset is our people. The pandemic has sharpened our longstanding focus on promoting good mental health and well-being amongst our more than 28,000 employees. Working together with Quan has given me specific and actionable insights into  the challenges my team members are trying to cope with. With this data, I’m better able to foster a work environment where my people can truly thrive.”

Another one of Quan’s first customers, Ruben Vermaak, Head of L&D at Bynder - an Amsterdam and Boston-based tech company - added: “Quan helps us uncover things about our team that normally would not have been mentioned. Now we know how to best spend to effectively support the emotional health and well-being of our people.”

Quan launched its beta product in March 2021, and to date is working with 12 organizations, over 1000 paid users and a platform engagement rate of 88%.

To celebrate being selected for YC W22, Quan is offering free access to Quan’s employee well-being platform to leaders who could use extra support preventing burn-out across their teams.

www.quanwellbeing.com

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