Jellyvision, one of Chicago's longest-running tech successes and king of funny press releases, has raised $20 million in new funding.
The investment comes from private equity firm Updata, and it will be used to reward longtime employees and seed investors that were looking for liquidity. Jellyvision is profitable and employs more than 350 people.
Jellyvision has built an employee communication platform called ALEX, which helps workers understand complex things like signing up for healthcare coverage and financial wellness programs. It uses humor and "non-jargony" language to make understanding boring and complicated benefits programs easier.
So fittingly, Jellyvision's press release has a similar tone. Its headline reads "Jellyvision - Maker of Employee Communication Platform ALEX? - Secures $20 Million in Funding, Doesn't Plan to Get All Weird About It."
Jellyvision is a 100-year-old tech company, give or take 85 years
“Jellyvision is a 100-year-old tech company, give or take 85 years, and we are often recognized for our culture and insanely great people,” Amanda Lannert, CEO of Jellyvision, said in the news release. “But our people also make insanely great software that’s been selling like gang busters for years. Funding from a top SaaS-focused growth equity firm like Updata validates our strengths as an innovative and fast-growing employee communication SaaS company. We are excited to partner with them and are looking forward to having serious fun with them, too.”
Jellyvision launched in 1989 and began as a video game company, creating the popular 90s trivia game “You Don’t Know Jack.” After the "tragic death of the CD-ROM software market,"--as Jellyvision puts it in the release--the company pivoted into an employee communication platform.
Jellyvision's ALEX platform is used by more than 800 companies and 14 million employees. Over 80 of the Fortune 500 companies use Jellyvision's technology, including Comcast and Adobe.
Image via Jellyvision
