A Chicago startup with technology solutions for the workplace closed a Series A round this week that valued the company at $200 million.
Workstorm builds off the success of platforms like Slack, Zoom and Teams to provide what it calls "collaboration technology" for legal, government and professional services organizations, as well as other businesses, with a variety of user features, security and privacy standards.
The startup was advised on the its Series A by Sidley Austin LLP, with funding participants including Author Capital Partners and Chicago-based high-net-worth investors.
Founded by Raj Fernando and Nicholas Stech, Workstorm was created to provide a way for companies to communicate effectively and collaborate quickly while protecting the information shared.
The new funding will be used to help with product development, expand the company's customer base and support Workstorm's growth.
While Stech wouldn't disclose the amount the company raised in the Series A round, he did say that a "challenging" fundraising environment forced them to get creative and selective about whom they reached out to.
"There were a lot of VCs who were interested in funding us, and we had a lot of discussion with several who were unable to fund at this point because their funds just aren't funded anymore," Stech told Chicago Inno. "In order for us to achieve funding, it was important for us to be strategic in who we were funding with. We needed to find alignment."
Stech said that while the company will continue to look at traditional venture capital firms and bring them in at the right time, initially it made more sense to focus on the relationships they already had in place.
He said the backing of several Chicago-based high-net-worth investors illustrates the strength of Workstorm's network of strategic investors who already knew and trusted the company.
Workstorm has an office in River North, but with its workforce spread across the country, the Chicago startup hopes to continue to practice what it preaches.
"We're very much a hybrid work environment, and our platform and product was built to support that so it was great to have Workstorm support our own business," Stech said. "We use it every day and it enables us to be flexible in our office set up."
