One of Wisconsin's most successful startups is investing in new physical office spaces in Madison and Chicago but has stopped short of requiring employees to use them.
Fetch, the Madison-based maker of an increasingly popular consumer loyalty app, opened a new custom-designed headquarters in Madison in the summer of 2022. The company has 834 U.S. employees and doesn't mandate that they come into the office.
"We really didn't want to force people back," Fetch chief people officer Rachel Olchowka said. "We've got more folks coming back in but folks come in voluntarily."
While some tech companies have scaled back their office footprints since the pandemic and others have doubled down on requiring employees to return to the office, Fetch has taken a different route by investing in new spaces built for hybrid work.
Instead of mandating that employees come into the office a certain number of days per week, Fetch aimed to create a fun office environment that would make employees want to come in, Olchowka said. The company offers lunch in the office on Mondays and Tuesdays and allows workers to bring their dogs, she said.
The company was founded in 2013 as Fetch Rewards. In April 2022, it announced it was valued at $2.5 billion as it raised $240 million from investors.
Earlier this month, the company announced it changed its name to Fetch to align with expansion plans to "redefine the shopping experience for consumers," according to a Jan. 9 press release.
Fetch's new office is on Madison's east side, on the second floor of a building at 1050 E. Washington Ave. Its previous space was near the State Capitol at 131 W. Wilson St.
Fetch is also building out a new office in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, Crain's Chicago Business first reported last month. It also has offices in New York and Birmingham, Alabama. Its largest offices are in Madison and Chicago, and most of its technology hiring has been in Madison and Birmingham, Olchowka said.
The company intentionally doesn't track the number of employees that come into its offices, Olchowka said. However, the company felt it was important to offer accessible workspaces for employees who want to come into an office — even if they just want to come in some of the time, she said.
"Not having offices was not a consideration for us," Olchowka said. "We wanted to have a space for our folks to get together and collaborate and learn from each other and build connections with each other."
