Peakon, a people analytics firm, has raised $22m to expand into the US, Germany and APAC.
The firm’s round was led by Balderton Capital and drew support from existing backers EQT Ventures, IDInvest and Sunstone.
Headquartered in the UK, and with a presence both in London and Copenhagen, Peakon was launched in 2016 and has since worked with the likes of BMW, Capgemini and Maersk.
The company seeks to improve employee management and retention through insights delivered via its SaaS platform. It collects and analyses employee feedback from web and mobile apps, and subsequently leverages machine learning to gain a better understanding of employees.
Co-founded by Phil Chambers, Kasper Hulthin, Dan Rogers and Christian Holm in January 2015, Peakon expects to double its headcount to more than 180 people over the coming year.
Chambers, co-founder and CEO, said: “We’ve taken huge steps forward across the whole business in the last twelve months – rounding out the team with senior hires, driving product satisfaction to record levels, increasing revenue by over 600%, and launching in several new markets – and felt like this was time to double down on our global expansion. Not only have we established ourselves as a leader in the people analytics market, we’ve also emerged as one of the fastest growing SaaS startups in Europe.”
Balderton’s managing partner Bernard Liautaud will join Peakon’s board as a result of the investment.
“Adding Bernard to the board is a game-changer, as founder of Business Objects he’s one of Europe’s most successful enterprise software entrepreneurs, and he’ll give us the expertise to cement Peakon’s position as a global leader in the market,” he added.
Liautaud commented: “Peakon is a great product that has been going from strength to strength, driven by an exceptional team. People analytics will transform the world of work in the next decade and Peakon is well positioned to benefit. I’m very excited to be joining the board and look forward to helping them achieve even greater success.”
Lars Jörnow, partner and investment advisor to EQT Ventures, explained why he backed the firm: “Teams and workplace culture are vital to a business’ success and Peakon’s continuous approach to employee feedback gives companies the opportunity to make real-time changes to improve performance.
“The company’s rapid growth and the fact it’s now used by enterprise clients worldwide demonstrates the increasing importance of employee engagement to top performing companies. The EQT Ventures team is looking forward to supporting Peakon through its next phase of growth,” he concluded.
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