Workmate in the Press
English press
Indonesian press
Thai press
1 November 2022
Blue-collar HR firms rake in revenue, could weather recession
Promising revenue and funding indicate a bright future for these specialized firms. But they have to address crucial issues first, like building trust.
26 October 2022
Transforming the way businesses work with a shift-based workforce
Covid-19 has caused a global reset, pushing many white-collar jobs to pivot to remote or hybrid work, but the situation looked very different for shift workers, given the industries they worked in were perhaps hit hardest by the pandemic. On Prime Time, host Bharati Jagdish speaks with Mat Ward, CEO, Workmate to find out how they are making a difference in the region's shift-based workforce and transforming the way businesses work with their shift-based workforce. Workmate is a Singapore-based on-demand staffing platform, and it has been recently acquired by Persol Asia Pacific, one of the region’s largest HR service providers.
11 October 2022
Japanese HR firm Persol buys Singapore staffing platform Workmate
Workmate plans to leverage Persol’s resources and infrastructure to power its expansion into markets such as Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.
10 May 2022
Press Release: Workmate appoints Andrew Senduk as new Managing Director for Indonesia
Jakarta, May 10, 2022 – Workmate, a startup that connects blue-collar workers with employers in Southeast Asia, has appointed Andrew Senduk to lead the company's Indonesian office as Managing Director. He is tasked with accelerating growth for Workmate’s key staffing business in target industries and realizing the company’s vision to organize the informal workforce in Indonesia.
7 April 2022
Financial Times: Asia-Pacific start-ups seize growth at home amid travel shutdowns
As in previous years, the FT’s list is dominated by technology start-ups, which have faced less difficulty operating across borders than those that provide physical goods and services. Some 32 per cent of companies are in the technology or fintech sectors, compared with 28.8 per cent of companies the previous year. One multinational company on the FT ranking is fourth-placed Workmate, a Singapore-headquartered tech business that operates in Thailand and Indonesia. Founder and chief executive Matthew Ward describes its online platform as “Uber for manpower”, connecting manufacturers and delivery businesses with the blue-collar workers they need on demand.
March 2022
Financial Times: Workmate got ranked in number 4th in APAC on Financial Times Asia-Pacific's High Growth Companies in 2022
This fourth annual FT ranking of 500 of the Asia-Pacific region’s high-growth companies — compiled in partnership with research provider Statista — is the most competitive to date.
18 January 2022
Straits Times: Firm boosts support services with the use of technology
Workmate, a firm combining technological expertise with essential human resources services, clinched the top spot in a ranking of the fastest-growing firms in Singapore. Workmate founder and chief executive Mathew Ward said: "Given that Workmate delivers manpower for front-line roles, we did see a drop in demand from our customers in food and beverage establishments and events. However, we saw a big surge in demand from our customers in e-commerce logistics and food delivery. The big surge in these sectors drove strong overall growth for the company during the pandemic." Serving the logistics, e-commerce and food and beverage industries, the firm provides an end-to-end platform that integrates automation tools, real-time performance data and a network so that companies can have full visibility over their blue-collar workforce.
18 January 2022
Straits Times: ST and Statista ranks Workmate as the fastest growing company in 2022
Workmate beat over a thousand submissions to make it top of a list of fastest-growing companies compiled by The Straits Times and Germany-based global research firm Statista. The ranking, now in its fourth year, features 75 Singapore-based firms that achieved markedly high revenue growth between 2017 and 2020 and takes into account revenue growth over the three-year period.
2 July 2021
e27: Workmate raises US$10M to help businesses find, manage quality blue-collar workers
Singapore-headquartered Workmate, which offers an end-to-end online staffing platform, announced today that it has received a US$10 million loan from the UK-based lending platform Lendable. The startup has raised a total of US$15.2 million so far from a slew of investors, including Atlas Ventures, Gobi Partners, and Beacon VC, the corporate venture capital arm of Kasikornbank, With the fresh funds, Workmate intends to onboard more workers in Indonesia and Thailand.
25 January 2021
RLC Recruitment and Workmate partnership
RLC Recruitment has announced a new partnership with Workmate that is aimed at leveraging technology to streamline workforce management processes for its clients in the blue-collar industries.
Nov 2020
The Adrian Tan Show Ep #25 with Mat Ward
Mathew Ward is the founding CEO of Workmate, an end-to-end workforce management platform with a fully integrated worker network, custom-built to enable the blue-collar workforce. Workmate provides businesses with full visibility on their entire workforce through automating hiring, onboarding, scheduling, attendance, and performance reporting processes in one seamless system, while leveraging a qualified network of 50,000+ pre-vetted workers ready to fill gaps.
7 July 2020
kr-asia: Workmate helps blue-collar workers find jobs during a time of crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has a growing impact on the global economy and rising unemployment in many countries. As the crisis unfolds, informal workers remain vulnerable to economic shock, while many of them need assistance to locate new employment and earn reliable income. Those who need such support can turn to a platform called Workmate.
12 November 2019
Tech in Asia: On-demand staffing platform Workmate bags $5.2m in series A round
Singapore-headquartered Workmate (formerly Helpster), which connects blue-collar workers with employers in Southeast Asia, has raised US$5.2 million in a series A round led by early-stage VC fund Atlas Ventures.
12 November 2019
e27: On-demand staffing platform Workmate raises US$5.2M funding, looking to put orders in region’s informal labor economy
Southeast Asian end-to-end staffing platform Workmate (formerly Helpster) announces that it has closed a Series A funding round of US$5.2 million, led by Atlas Ventures with participation by Gobi Partners and Beacon Venture Capital (Beacon VC), the corporate venture capital arm of Kasikornbank PLC. (KBANK), with existing investors also participating in the round.
13 November 2019
Digital News Asia: Workmate secures US$5.2mil in Series A funding
SINGAPORE-based end-to-end staffing platform Workmate (formerly Helpster) announced that it closed a Series A funding round of US$5.2 million (RM21.52 million), led by Atlas Ventures with participation by Gobi Partners and Beacon Venture Capital (Kasikorn Bank), with existing investors also participating in the round.
14 December 2017
TechCrunch: Helpster, a platform for temp job seekers in Southeast Asia, raises $2.5M
Helpster, a two-year-old startup that connects blue-collar workers with employers in Southeast Asia, has closed $2.5 million in new funding.
13 December 2017
Digital News Asia: Helpster secures US$2.5 mil Pre-Series A funding
Online temporary staffing platform Helpster announced that it closed a pre-series A funding round of US$2.5 million led by Mojo Partners and Wavemaker partners. All of Helpster’s existing investors also participated in the round.
11 December 2017
e27
Helpster, a Southeast Asian startup that helps companies fill short-term staffing needs, announced today it has raised a US$2.5 million pre-Series A round led by Mojo Partners and Wavemaker Partners.
7 February 2017
ecommerceIQ
Helpster, a Thailand-based on-demand staffing platform is connecting companies with blue collar workers when they need extra hands. ecommerceIQ sat down with the startup’s CEO and co-founder Mathew Ward to talk about the ins and outs of his business.
16 November 2016
TechCrunch
Helpster, a Bangkok-based company that matches employers with people seeking blue-collar jobs, has banked $2.1 million to expand across Southeast Asia.
15 November 2016
e27
Helpster, a Thailand-based company that helps blue collar workers find jobs, announced today it has raised a US$2.1 million Seed Round led by Convergence Ventures.
15 November 2016
Tech in Asia
Helpster, a Bangkok-based startup that finds temporary and permanent blue-collar employees for businesses, announced closing a US$2.1 million seed round today. Indonesia’s Convergence Ventures led the round with Wavemaker Partners and other investors participating.

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