Briq (HX18) gets acquired by Swile to put employees first at scale

The Very First Briqs

It all began in 2016 at the heart of our studio. At the time, Briq was an internal tool that we used to give each other kudos and build team spirit. The nature of our studio is such that there are lots of startups coming and going and so we were looking to create a common culture amongst the eFounders community and keep everyone engaged.

The problem we were solving turned out to be much broader and impacted companies far and wide. User rates of our startups started to shoot up. Briqs were being exchanged at a rate we could have only imagined! And the word also quickly got out to companies outside of the eFounders tight-knit community. They wanted to get in on it too. And we quickly realized our internal tool could become the cornerstone for employees at other companies too.

A Solid Founding Team…

That’s when we decided to partner with Laurent, the CTO that would bring the product from just a Slack bot to a more robust solution. Charlene joined as the CEO bringing her strong HR and HR Tech background, followed by Jérémie, the COO, with a strong track record of sales and marketing. The three of them would take Briq to the next level.

Briq which started as a tool that we used to give one-on-one kudos to celebrate our teammates and show recognition grew to become so much more. It turned into a powerful tool that allowed anyone to feel part and contribute to the company culture. Team members were able to redeem the Briqs they received for team activities, meaningful donations and other items fitting the company culture. The vision of the token of engagement to strengthen company culture and engagement was born.

In 2019, the team at Briq doubled down on HR people’s needs around engagement at work by improving the product around two main components. First, by developing Briq into a tool to boost employee engagement through recognition and praise. Second, by measuring key engagement metrics and providing HR people with the insights they needed (employee engagement surveys, insights on team building and company culture, etc).

With this improved product, the evangelization’s efforts paid off. Briq closed 50 new clients and not only managed to make waves in the startup community but also win over big groups like Mazars and Credit Agricole. What started as a Slack add-on evolved into a full-fledged web and mobile app.

…Joining a Fantastic Company

Briq succeeded in building a comprehensive tool to boost engagement in a concrete way. Huge congrats to the three talented co-founders and their team! And now enters Briq’s new exciting chapter with Swile. The ex-Lunchr, which started as a ‘ticket restaurant’ card, has envisioned a whole suite of products for engagement at work. The company’s mission could not be any more similar to Briq’s: to put employee engagement at the forefront. Adding Briq to the Swile suite will help companies foster a positive-company culture on every front.

We are thrilled for Charlene, Laurent and Jérémie who are joining the Swile team. Together they will fast-track Briq’s adoption and reach an audience that we could have ever dreamed of. It’s only the beginning.