Jessica Ciabarra, CEO and co-founder of Employee Wow

Austin-based Employee Wow, a software company, announced Wednesday that it has raised $1 million in seed funding.

The funds come from Sean Tomlinson, an investor based in Hong Kong. He also joined the company’s board of directors.

Employee Wow plans to use the money to hire sales staff and market its Anonymous Employee Feedback Platform, its flagship product. The platform lets businesses, employees, managers, and customers communicate better.

“I am very excited to become a part of Employee Wow,” Tomlinson said in a news release. “Through a decade of operating hospitality and other retail businesses, I’ve seen firsthand how beneficial this type of employee feedback technology could be. I expect demand for this software to increase massively in the coming years. Employee Wow benefits employee retention and saves time and money onboarding new staff members, all of which are quantifiable benefits to business owners and operators.”

Employee Wow’s Anonymous Employee Feedback Platform is like a modern-day suggestion box that is available on the Apple iPad and iPhone app, as well as via the web and through email. It also has Snapchat integration.

“Research indicates that happy, more engaged employees lead to more profitable businesses, and we’re seeing that younger employees increasingly require real-time feedback on top of check-the-box evaluations,” Jessica Ciabarra, CEO and co-founder of Employee Wow, said in a news release. “Our Anonymous Employee Feedback Platform—including its unique Snapchat integration—is the catalyst for creating new feedback loops that can lead to greater customer loyalty and employee engagement, performance and happiness.”

Chirs Ciabarra, chief technology officer, co-founded the company with Jessica Ciabarra.