The Vietnam-based startup, Nano Technologies has raised USD 3 million in a seed funding round, as announced on May 13, 2021.
The round was led by returning investors Golden Gate Ventures and Venturra Discovery and even FEBE Ventures, Openspace Ventures, and Goodwater Capital participated in the round.
The startup plans to keep focusing on Vietnam and develop new products for employees including tools for managing staff and engagement.
Nano Technologies previously took part in Y Combinator’s accelerator program, where Golden Gate and Venturra Discovery both took part in its pre-seed funding.
About Nano Technologies
Founded in 2020 by Dzung Dang who was formerly a general manager at Uber and Chief Executive officer at ZaloPay, and Thang Nguyen who was previously the chief technology officer at Focal Labs and SeeSpace. Nano Technologies let workers in Vietnam access their earned wages immediately through an app called VUI, which was launched six months ago and has today more than 20000 employees from companies like GS25, LanChi Mart, Annam Gourmet.
Around 50-60% of the employees sign up for VUI when they are offered employment and use it around three times every month to withdraw their earned wages.
Nano’s earned wage access features can be used by employers of all sizes, in all sectors, to offer flexible payments to their employees, but its focus is currently on retail, food, and beverage, and manufacturing, especially for textiles, garments, and shoes. The startup says companies in these sectors have seen recruitment costs increase, while worker retention drops. This is in part because many people are opting for gig economy jobs, like ride-sharing, where their earnings are automatically deposited into their digital wallets or bank accounts.
Nano usually fronts wage advances and then is paid back by employers on their paydays through payroll deduction. Employers who have higher liquidity can also front wages through their own balance sheets. VUI is usually offered by employers as a benefit, and they can opt to cover fees, have their workers pay fees, or use a co-pay model.
What do the customers say?
Chi Phan, the CEO of LanChi Mart, a subsidiary of Central Retail with about 2,000 employees, said “On-demand salary via VUI is an obvious idea and practical HR initiative that LanChi team is pleased to roll out to our employees as a new voluntary benefit. VUI provides a much-needed financial lifeline from LanChi to our employees, keeping the employee morale up during the COVID-19 pandemic and reducing attrition rites post-Tet.”
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