Berlin-based Leapsome, a platform for performance management and employee engagement, announced on Thursday that it has raised $60M (approximately €54.40M) in its Series A round of funding. Founded in 2016, this marked the first capital raise for the company.
The company says that the funds will help double down on its rapidly growing presence in the US market, enhance its platform, and bring new ‘innovative’ products to market.
Leapsome’s co-founder, Kajetan von Armansperg, says, “We have always been bootstrapping pragmatically, and not dogmatically, and have continuously assessed the right moment for our first funding round. With the opening of our New York office and our pursuit of rapid expansion in the US, that moment is now. The funding will allow us to expand faster in international markets and further develop the platform to achieve our mission of making work more fulfilling.”
Investors in this round
The round was led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners. Katie Bullard, MD of Insight Partners, will be joining the Leapsome board.
Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of February 24, 2022, the closing of the firm’s recent fundraise, Fund XII, brings Insight Partners’ regulatory assets under management to over $90B. The firm has invested in more than 600 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO.
Besides Insight Partners, the round also saw participation from Europe-based VCs Creandum, a venture capital advisory firm powering innovation from Stockholm, San Francisco, London, and Berlin; and Visionaries Club, a Berlin-based early-stage VC fund backed by ‘leading’ European digital founders and family business entrepreneurs. The firm provides entrepreneurs with capital in the Seed and Early Growth stages to help take their companies to the next level.
“Develop your people, scale your business”
Co-founded by Kajetan von Armansperg and Jenny von Podewils, Leapsome helps customers bolster their internal feedback and learning culture to sustainably retain employees through its software platform.
The platform combines features for feedback, OKRs (Objectives and key results), employee surveys, and learning, allowing companies to drive employee engagement, performance, and development.
Jenny von Podewils says, “In their lifetime, a single person will spend around 80,000 hours at work. We want to ensure that all employees can grow and develop during this time. What Millennials want from their job is increasingly changing in the labour market. They seek a strong company culture where they can do impactful and fulfilling work in an environment that supports their development. Employers who fail to meet these expectations will lose their best talent. We are delighted to be able to support our customers in building a strong learning and feedback-oriented culture to create a great employee experience.”
The company says that the modular design of the platform allows for flexible setup and adoption by customers. Leapsome claims it is already a profitable company that has experienced exponential growth, tripling revenue in 2021. The company has more than 1,000 customers across Europe, the US, Asia, and Australia, including a number of leading global brands like Spotify, Unity, and Mercedes-Benz.
Besides improving employee performance and satisfaction, the platform also allows companies to automate and streamline many of their manual feedback and training processes by combining them in a single platform. The platform can be integrated with communication tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, as well as HR Information Systems such as Workday and BambooHR.
