Benefit Systems invests in Wellbee: the acquisition will strengthen the MultiLife product offer around ​​psychological support and self-development.

Wellbee is a mental health and personal development platform supporting the wellbeing of individual customers and companies. The platform provides quick online and stationary access to over 300 specialists. When selecting them, patients can count on free support from an account manager. Wellbee provides not only the support of psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psycho-oncologists and couple therapists, but also access to high-quality development courses and selected psychoeducational materials.

As part of the transaction, in the first phase, Benefit Systems acquired 69.8% of shares in Wellbee Sp. z o.o. for PLN 33.7 million. According to the agreement, Wellbee will continue to be developed by the company’s founders, and the remaining shares will be purchased in the earn-out formula based on financial results in 2025 and 2026.

– The strategy we implement assumes comprehensive support for employee wellbeing in such fundamental areas as physical and mental condition. The continuing high level of interest in physical activity within MultiSport motivates us to expand our offer with further health-supporting solutions, hence the intense emphasis on the development of MultiLife within the Benefit Systems product ecosystem. In recent years, we have seen how important mental health has become and we believe that benefits supporting wellbeing will be another standard in non-financial benefit packages in a few years, as was the case with the MultiSport Programme – explains Emilia Rogalewicz, Management Board Member at Benefit Systems responsible for sales and development of product offers, and adds: – Employers interest in specific solutions is growing, which is not surprising given the disturbing data from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), which shows that the number of sick leaves issued due to mental and behavioural disorders increased by nearly 9% last year compared to 2022. This means over 1.4 million medical certificates and as many as 26 million days of sickness absenteeism throughout 2023.

As part of its investment in Wellbee, Benefit Systems plans to integrate the company’s services with MultiLife as quickly as possible, while maintaining the B2C model in Wellbee’s offer, i.e. individual therapy without financial support from the employer. Benefit Systems expects further scaling and development of Wellbee in the coming years.

– When developing MultiLife, we are constantly thinking about increasing the availability of non-financial benefits and the civilisation challenges we face as employees and employers. That is why we made a strategic decision to join forces with Wellbee, which is one of the most dynamically developing entities in the field of mental health providing access to verified specialists and unique know-how. This synergy will enhance MultiLife’s mental health offer, and we will be able to jointly empower employees to cope with a reality that is increasingly unpredictable. For employers, this is a clear signal that, together with MultiLife, they are introducing a solution to their companies that provides a tool for both the current measurement of wellbeing (Wellbeing Score) and its effective improvement through multidimensional psychological assistance, courses in self-development and strengthening professional competences, consultations with trainers and dieticians, as well as the support of an individual wellbeing assistant, supported by artificial intelligence – says Piotr Szostak, Managing Director for Strategy and Product Development at Benefit Systems.

From the very beginning, Wellbee’s mission has been to expand awareness of mental health and provide quick access to a wide range of specialists.

– Over the last four years, we have been trusted by tens of thousands of individual customers and many companies that now understand that taking care of the mental health of their employees is not a taboo, but a standard that has a real impact on the organisation’s results. We have become a wellbeing partner that supports not only the mental health of employees, but also in the field of consulting and wellbeing strategies, audits, and tailor-made development programmes and workshops for managers. We believe that thanks to the strong market position of Benefit Systems, we will be able to implement this mission even better, providing access to a comprehensive offer around mental health to thousands of companies and millions of customers in Poland and abroad – says Dariusz Milewski, co-founder and CEO of Wellbee.

In turn, Paweł Chrzan, co-founder of Wellbee, points out that the idea of holistic support for people in their pursuit of wellbeing is close to Wellbee. – In the face of the pandemic and war, we focused on mental health – the area that has suffered the most. We are proud that as Wellbee we have been able to directly help tens of thousands of people and inspire even more to take care of their mental health. Now, thanks to cooperation with Benefit Systems, we can develop all pillars of wellbeing more broadly. The vision we share includes creating preventive technology that identifies potential problems early and offers tailored solutions from a wide range of Benefit Systems and Wellbee services. Personally, I also hope that we can support our users not only in preventing problems, but also in developing their full potential.

A survey by the Rzeczpospolita daily shows that half of employers in Poland have introduced or intend to introduce benefits supporting employee wellbeing this year. These actions and declarations are important because, according to “The Wellbeing of Poles” report, prepared in cooperation between Benefit Systems and infuture.institute, low and very low wellbeing level is most often experienced by people aged 35-44, who are currently the core of the workforce in Poland. These are alarming results, because the wellbeing of employees is one of the conditions that translates into their potential and effectiveness. Therefore, benefit solutions providing comprehensive wellbeing support are an important investment that fits both the needs of the organisation and the current expectations of employees.

^{Benefit Systems has been operating on the Polish market for over two decades and is one of the leaders in providing non-financial benefits that support employee wellbeing. The company is the creator of the MultiSport Programme, which enables physical activity in sports facilities throughout the country. Its portfolio also includes the MyBenefit cafeteria platform and the MultiLife wellbeing programme. For several years now, the company’s sports offer has been developed on foreign markets, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Croatia. The Benefit Systems Group also operates fitness clubs (in Poland it is responsible for Zdrofit, Fabryka Formy, FitFabric, Fitness Academy, Good Luck, and My Fitness Place networks; in other markets it manages over 60 facilities). An important area of Benefit Systems activities is the promotion of an active lifestyle at every stage of life, which is why the company implements initiatives supporting physical activity of children, adults, and seniors, also as part of the MultiSport Foundation. Since 2018, Benefit Systems has been part of the global B Corp initiative, bringing together companies operating and engaging in solving the most important social problems. More information can be found at benefitsystems.pl/en.}