PerkSpot, a Chicago-based startup that makes an HR tech platform, recently expanded its River North office as it gears up to nearly double its staff in the coming months.
The company, founded in 2006, makes a workplace benefit platform that employers can offer their employees to give them discounts at particular retailers. The startup negotiates with vendors on behalf of employers and takes care of all perk-related customer service requests. PerkSpot has more than 850 clients, which include Walgreen’s, McDonald’s and Southwest Airlines.
Last summer, PerkSpot became one of Chicago’s hottest startups when it raised $50 million from Bala Cynwyd, Penn.-based Susquehanna Growth Equity. The funding was the first outside investment PerkSpot received, and it has made a considerable difference in the company’s growth.
Last year, around the time PerkSpot raised the financing, the company employed only 30 people. Now, the startup employs 55 people and expects to be at about 70 by the end of the year.
“We’ve had some healthy growth,” said PerkSpot CEO Jace Mouse. “It’s amazing what happens in a year.”
By the end of 2020, he says the company will employ about 125 people.
The new hires caused PerkSpot to move into its new office at 320 W. Ohio St., where it moved at the end of last year. But it recently expanded again, adding another floor in its building to accommodate the new employees it plans to hire, Mouse said. Now PerkSpot’s office spans more than 32,000 square feet.
The office features an open floor plan with several break out and conference rooms, including a mini trailer, which is popular among employees for meetings.
“Some folks use it for a place to hold phone conversations. Others find it a cozy space to disconnect for a little bit,” Mouse said.
The company’s color, blue, pops up everywhere around the office, from furniture to the paint on the walls. An with exposed ceilings and brick, the office has an industrial but modern feel.
Every Friday, the team celebrates the past week’s wins, and throughout the week, employees get to know each other’s pets thanks to the company's flexible bring-your-pet-to-work policy.
“We wanted this to feel like a space that we could all collectively feel at home in,” Mouse said.
Take a look at PerkSpot’s office below:
