Culture Amp's valuation hits $2 billion with $135 million raise

Employee engagement platform Culture Amp has raised US$100 million (A$135m) in a series F that doubles the tech startup’s valuation to $2 billion in just two years.

The fresh round gives the business a US$1.5 billion (A$2.02bn) valuation, double its worth since 2019’s US$82 million (AU$121m) in series E.

The raise was led by TDM Growth Partners and Sequoia Capital China. Salesforce Ventures jumped in for the first time. Among local backers, Blackbird, and Skip Capital and Grok Capital, the family VC funds of Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar reinvested, along with Felicis Ventures, Index Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, and Global Founders Capital.

The decade-old business is still a long way from profitable, despite the increased focus on keeping employees happy during the coronvirus pandemic. The business posted revenue of US$45.8 million (A$63m) in the 2020 financial year for a net loss of US$33.9 million (A$46m).

But the customer base has grown over the past two years from 2,500 companies to 4,000.

TDM co-founder Hamish Corlett said that Culture Amp had helped those companies ensure that people and culture are fundamental to building a competitive advantage and success.

“We will look back in the decades to come and see it was these businesses that were early adopters in understanding this,” he said.

Rob Keith, Head of Australia, Salesforce Ventures said his company had been a customer for many years and the business was the clear leader in employee experience.

“We seek to invest in the most innovative cloud companies and founders, solving the world’s most pressing challenges globally – Culture Amp is at the forefront of driving positive behaviour change at work and we look forward to contributing to the company’s continued growth and success,” he said.