15Five announced it has raised $52 million in Series C funding led by Quad Partners with additional funding from previous investors Next47, Origin Ventures, Edison Partners, Matrix Partners, Point Nine Capital, and New Ground Ventures. This adds to the company’s Series B round of $30.7 million in 2019.
“We’ve been hyper-focused on partnering with companies that play a role in helping individuals at every age become empowered, engaged, and fulfilled,” says Connor O’Keefe, Principal at Quad Partners. “Education and personal growth is a lifelong journey. Now more than ever, companies are expected to facilitate organizational development by engaging employees, training managers, and enabling individual and business performance. What was compelling to us, and led to our investment in 15Five, is its cohesive mission and vision in building solutions that truly unlock the potential of each and every employee.”
15Five describes itself as a holistic performance management company, and specifically targets small to medium sized business in the 100-2,500 employees range. Customers include Spotify, Hubspot, Pendo, and Credit Karma.
Performance management is an area that has been getting a lot of attention lately as companies realize the outdated annual one-and-done performance review is no longer agile enough for today’s workforce. 15Five offers subscription software, training, and coaching that helps HR professionals measure both engagement and performance in the flow of work. Other tools offer support for learning such as customized coaching and an online educational offering. The technology can integrate with other systems such as HRIS and payroll so data can be collected and analyzed across a variety of aspects.
David Hassell, CEO of 15Five says, “One of our founding beliefs was that the best companies in the future would be the ones that figured out how to motivate their people and unlock their potential, informed by the understanding that thriving humans create thriving businesses. And that’s still true. But how we do that has evolved. Our tools help HR leaders implement performance reviews, engagement surveys, and alignment around goals, with a through-line to training and coaching for frontline and first-time managers. We believe that managers are the keystone of high performance, not just in overseeing the work, but in helping to tap into the unique strengths and passions of every member of their team.”
According to the company, this latest round of funding will be invested in research and development and to scale its go-to-market strategy by investigating new markets and pursuing potential acquisitions.
Author Information
As a detail-oriented researcher, Sherril is expert at discovering, gathering and compiling industry and market data to create clear, actionable market and competitive intelligence. With deep experience in market analysis and segmentation she is a consummate collaborator with strong communication skills adept at supporting and forming relationships with cross-functional teams in all levels of organizations.
She brings more than 20 years of experience in technology research and marketing; prior to her current role, she was a Research Analyst at Omdia, authoring market and ecosystem reports on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and User Interface technologies. Sherril was previously Manager of Market Research at Intrado Life and Safety, providing competitive analysis and intelligence, business development support, and analyst relations.
Sherril holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University.
