Employee engagement platform provider Kudos has secured a $10 million minority equity investment from the Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF).
Headquartered in Calgary and founded in 2010, Kudos’ technology enables organizations to boost employee engagement using its peer-to-peer recognition software, which quantifies productivity within the company. Employers are able to send recognitions to their workers through Kudos’ rewards-focused programs.
According to Kudos, its fresh financing positions the startup for global expansion, as it expects to double its workforce to 120 employees across Canada by the end of 2022.
In August, Kudos was among the 15 Alberta-based companies that received $1 million in funding from Western Economic Diversification Canada through the Business Scale-up and Productivity program.
The company also reported a successful fourth quarter in sales in 2020, representing over 150 percent growth when compared to any quarter in the previous year. Kudos attributes its expansion to an increase in interest from enterprise and Fortune 500 clients, driven by the global shift towards remote and hybrid work environments.
The CBGF was launched by a group of Canadian banks and insurance companies in 2017 as an independent investment fund. It invests between $3 million and $20 million in mid-market companies with $5 million or more in annual revenue, a demonstrated growth trajectory, and a vision for accelerated growth.
RELATED: Canadian Business Growth Fund launches with initial capital commitment of $545 million
According to CBGF, it intends to make investments in Canadian companies seeking “long-term, patient, minority capital,” to finance continued growth and to allow the company it has invested in to scale.
Along with Innovacorp, the CBGF contributed to Halifax-based Proposify’s Series A funding round worth $5 million CAD in September. This brought CBGF’ and Innovacorp’s investments in the online proposal solution firm to $13 million over the last year.
Other companies in CBGF’s portfolio include names such as Paybright, Thoughtwire, and Vendasta.
UPDATE 15/12/2021: This article previously stated that, according to Crunchbase, Kudos had raised $15.8 million to date. This has been updated as new information from Kudos puts the startup’s total funding to date around $17 million.
Featured image from Mapbox via Unsplash