A Cincinnati startup – and one of the region’s fastest-growing firms – has raised new Series A funding. The investor pool included two firms new to the region and another, backed by Procter & Gamble, Great American Insurance and Kroger, among others, that’s looking to fuel more local companies.
Cloverleaf, which offers automated coaching technology for workers and teams, has secured a $7.3 million Series A extension round. The raise, announced March 27, was led by Advantage Capital, a St. Louis- and New Orleans-based impact investment firm, with participation from Palo Alto, Calif.’s Conductive Ventures. Cloverleaf is the first portfolio company in the region for both.
Other investors include Origin Ventures, ScOp Venture Capital, JobsOhio, Cintrifuse Capital and 1809 Capital.
Cloverleaf will look to extend its core automated coaching solution into more areas of professional development. Darrin Murriner, co-founder and CEO, told me the raise also means Cloverleaf is now cash flow positive. And he expects continued growth.
Cloverleaf has tripled revenue since its previous funding round in June 2022 – a $9 million Series A. Last year, Cloverleaf topped the list of local companies to make the Inc. 5000, considered one of the most prestigious rankings of private companies in the U.S. Murriner feels strongly the company will make a repeat appearance in 2024.
“(This round) it gives us a lot of options,” he said. “It demonstrates we have really outperformed a lot of other SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies at this stage, and it feels nice, as a founder, to be in a position where you can control your own destiny and not have to raise funds anymore if you didn't need to.”
Cloverleaf was founded in 2016 by Murriner and Kirsten Moorefield, who serves as the company’s chief operating officer. It integrates into systems teams already use, including Google Workplace, Microsoft 365 and Slack. Its technology sends personalized coaching tips – a few sentences a day – that leverage psychology data from assessments like DiSC and Enneagram to improve collaboration and retain high-performing employees.
Cloverleaf’s ability to send short nudges is its “secret sauce," Moorefield said. The team constantly hears from talent, development and learning leaders that they are disappointed with low engagement in digital learning programs, or they struggle with the high cost of more hands-on approaches.
“It truly understands each person and what they need to learn in that moment,” she said. “People can be learning in the moment they need to apply and grow.”
In a news release, Joe Henderson, vice president of Advantage Capital, called Cloverleaf a “truly innovative company changing the way businesses approach skills development for employees.” Murriner said Advantage was introduced to Cloverleaf through JobsOhio.
The company continues to pull local investor interest, too – Queen City Angels has invested in Cloverleaf since 2018, while Cintrifuse Capital, a rebrand of Cintrifuse’s 10-year-old syndicate fund, joined the most recent round after launching its new direct investment model late last year.
Cintrifuse Capital, to date, has made 12 direct investments, including in Cloverleaf, in that few-month span.
The support is largely why Cloverleaf crossed the Ohio River in 2022 – moving its headquarters from Covington to downtown’s Edge building on Culvert Street. The landscape for investment in Ohio is just stronger than Kentucky, Murriner said.
Advantage Capital, for example, had some requirements in terms of investing specifically in the state.
“It's not about job creation tax credits or any sort of real estate tax credits,” he said. “It has way more to do with the availability of funds that are Ohio-dependent.”
Cloverleaf is focused on working with companies with 1,000 or more employees. Clients include HP Enterprise, Kroger, Monster Energy. The company also is specifically looking to grow its local pool of Fortune 500 clients. Murriner said the company also has international reach.
“This is a message that resonates globally,” he said.
Currently, the Cloverleaf team is 45 strong. Murriner said the company has plans to hire for a few key positions. Otherwise, it will see modest growth in terms of headcount.
The round brings Cloverleaf’s total funding raised to $20 million to date. The company in 2022 was named a Cincy Inno Startup to Watch.
