Digital transformation has been the key to success for many companies still thriving during the global pandemic. One firm helping others achieve this is SocialChorus, a San Francisco-based startup that enables large enterprises to accelerate and accomplish their business initiatives by reaching, aligning, and mobilizing every worker. Ultimately, the company helps distribute communications internally similarly to how marketers reach customers externally.
However, as recently as June, SocialChorus began to reposition itself as a tool for organizational change rather than internal communications alone. The company noticed that workplace dynamics shifted significantly as the pandemic forced many employees into new and unknown territory. Subsequently, the company "reimagined how organizations can more effectively communicate with their distributed workforce."
As large organizations grapple with their own change initiatives, having a workforce communications platform that can improve the ROI of existing technology investments is critical. SocialChorus allows business, IT, HR, and communications teams to improve employee engagement and mobilize around key business objectives to achieve this widespread transformation.
This month SocialChorus announced a $100 million investment led by Sumeru Equity Partners, which gives the firm a majority stake in the company. The investment will enable SocialChorus to continue the momentum of its 50% year-over-year growth in both 2018 and 2019, which has only accelerated in 2020.
Mark Haller, Principal at Sumeru, told TechCrunch that this isn't an acquisition, but rather a partnership. "We're seeing continued partnership with existing investors and we're coming in and making that majority investment, and we'll also be making another investment in the balance sheet," he explained.
Meanwhile, Gary Nakamura, the Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of SocialChorus was excited to share his thoughts on the investment potential. "Digital transformation is reliant on human transformation, which can only happen if an organization's communication infrastructure enables them to reach, align, and mobilize all of their people. This is easy to say and difficult to do," he said. "At SocialChorus, we are excited to partner with SEP to expand our market-leading product innovation, customer success and go-to-market strategies to meet the needs of today's global enterprises."
This investment in SocialChorus indicates that venture capitalists are still interested in HR tech, despite the pandemic. Notably, during this year's second quarter, funding in the HR tech sector has increased by more than 14% from the first period to more than $1 billion.
