Bites, an Israeli startup that’s combining social media styled training videos and employee onboarding, has raised a $5 million Seed round. The Investment was led by Vertex Ventures, with participation from Surround Ventures, Orzyn Capital, Lyra Ventures, and J-Ventures.

"Reinventing employee communication"

Slow processes and complex employee training has greatly hindered the new hire onboarding process. The Bites platform helps both SMBs and enterprises modernize and simplify internal communications and employee training. The Israeli startup’s solution boosts engagement and retention over existing learning management systems (LMS) by offering compelling training content coupled with follow-up activities designed to reinforce learning. The flexible nature of the platform enables distributed and remote workforces to stay current on company practices, policies, and products without the need to install or adopt new apps or tools.

According to Bites, anyone within an organization can create and distribute professional, social-media-styled videos and content without requiring employees to download special software or new applications to their phones. Furthermore, managers and team leaders have access to crucial feedback through discussion boards and a comprehensive analytics dashboard.

“Bites is reinventing employee communications by leveraging concepts from social media and training to create a powerful platform designed for today’s distributed and remote workforce,” said Aviad Ariel, General Partner at Vertex Ventures Israel. “We believe Bites is the answer to one of the biggest challenges organizations face relating to communications and training by enabling easy creation, distribution, and consumption of highly engaging content while moving away from long forms and complex implementation processes of new software.”

Bites was founded in 2017 by Eran Heffetz, Tal Nagler Almog, and Hagai Horovitz, and is headquartered in Tel Aviv. The company reports more than 500 clients actively using the platform, including familiar brands like H&M, Unilever, HPE, and others. Eran Heffetz, CEO at Bites, shared where the company intends to utilize the newly raised capital: “This money raised will support our R&D, sales, and marketing efforts, as we execute on our aggressive go-to-market plans by approaching retailers, consumer goods companies, healthcare providers, and other verticals. Bites is leading a revolution, enabling distributed workforces to remain current through highly engaging, trackable content.”