We’re organising the informal workforce by connecting people to more opportunities.

Staffing should be three things: simple, effortless, and accessible.

Workmate solves staffing for businesses. But our larger purpose expands beyond that. We’re here to help workers increase their income, social protections, and ultimately their quality of life.

What we do

We make the informal labour market more efficient with technology.

By connecting and organising the workforce, businesses get all they need to fulfill their short term and contract labour needs. By creating an open and transparent platform, we help informal workers exercise their right to fair work and a better living.

We’re an end-to-end staffing solution that’s unlocking efficiencies for over 100M informal workers in Southeast Asia. To us, it’s more than harnessing manpower—it’s giving the power back to workers.

2016

Founded in Singapore

Talented people in our team

$10M

Total funding raised

How we got here

2016 Jan

Founded by Mathew Ward and John Srivovakul, raised US$500k in angel funding

2016 Apr

Opened our office in Bangkok and launched the first version of Helpster

2016 Nov

Raised $2.1m seed investment

2017 Feb

Expanded to Indonesia and opened our Jakarta office

2017 Apr

Signed our 100th customer, and expanded into logistics staffing

2018 Aug

Signed Asian Games, and delivered over 1,000 workers

2018 Dec

Grew 10x from January 2018

2019 Feb

Closed $5.2m in Series A funding

2019 Nov

Helpster is rebranded as Workmate

Our Principles

Customer Obsession

We’re relentless in our mission to deliver positive impact with all that we do. We always start with understanding our customers’ needs and feedback in order to make core decisions.

Fight like Underdogs

We reach our goals through hard work and diligence, not just talent. We always strive to improve. And when we achieve the unthinkable, we never forget where we came from and the people who made it possible.

Be Open and Honest

We challenge each other openly, committing to spur each other’s growth. We actively listen and understand first, and when we are direct, we do so with kindness and compassion.

Pride in Our Work

We pour as much passion and focus into the small things as we do the big things. How we do our work is as vital as what we do. Most of all, we deliver on our commitments.

Stronger Together

Our battles forge and bond us together. We make space for others to shine, as each of us have an equal responsibility to lead from the front. Our diversity in experiences, cultures, skills and personalities temper our strength.

Our Team

Mathew Ward

CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Mathew, who is originally from New Zealand, brings 18 years of experience in building high-growth businesses and teams in the APAC market. Prior to founding Workmate, he was the CEO and founding team member of Admax Network (acquired by Komli Media), Managing Director APAC for Lotame where he setup and launched their Asian business, and served on the advisory board of Ardent Capital. He has also worked with startups in Australia, Japan and the UK.

Hsu Ken Ooi

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER

As CPO of Workmate, Hsu Ken oversees product innovation, development and management of the Workmate platform and app. Before joining Workmate, Hsu Ken led product at Weave, a professional networking service. He also co-founded Decide—a data-driven price prediction service for consumer electronics which was acquired by eBay. Hsu Ken holds a Bachelor of Science in both Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Washington.

Martin Sørensen

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THAILAND

Martin leads the strengthening and expanding of Workmate’s operations and team in Thailand. He brings to Workmate 13 years of experience in sales and business development in the B2B segment and eCommerce. Most recently, Martin is the Co-founder and Managing Director of WearYouWant, a leading fashion and beauty eCommerce store that offers an online B2B2C platform for offline retailers. He holds a Master of Science in International Relations and Affairs from the University of Southern Denmark.

Peter Goldsworthy

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INDONESIA

As CEO of Workmate Indonesia, Peter leads growth and strategy in the region. Since joining Workmate, he has overseen our expansion from Jakarta to Bali, providing more opportunities to local workers. Prior to this, Peter founded and directed various online and business products—such as B2B marketplace Bizzy and Indonesia’s first social travel network Burufly. His passion for nurturing entrepreneurs is shown through his roles at Ardent Labs and Maloekoe Ventures. Peter received his MBA from RMIT University, Melbourne.

Topan Wijaya

REGIONAL FINANCIAL CONTROLLER

As Regional Financial Controller, Topan oversees and controls the full spectrum of finance, accounting, and tax for all Workmate regions. He has put in place accounting operational procedures that cover thousands of worker payments and business invoices. Beginning his career at both PwC and E&Y, Topan has since helmed the roles of Regional Financial Analyst for Garena, Head of Finance at Zalora Indonesia and ShopBack, and most recently Senior Accounting Manager at Traveloka. He received his Bachelor of Accounting from the University of Indonesia.

En Lerk Law

LEAD ENGINEER

As Lead Engineer, Lerk drives the core programming for Workmate’s technology. Since joining Workmate, he has upgraded the backend systems and data models, improving efficiency for the operation teams. Prior to this role, Lerk co-founded digital design consultancy Gridhaus, and dedicated four years to dealing with data critical systems at DBS Bank—improving systems stability for the bank’s core data warehouse. Lerk is a developer by trade with a Bachelor of Biomedicine in Biosystems Engineering from the University of Melbourne.