Tarek Kamil has many descriptors for the kind of impact Covid-19 has had on his startup, Cerkl.
In short: The company, which offers a tailored approach to employee and corporate communications, has experienced unprecedented demand in 2020-2021. It’s growth that spurred a multimillion-dollar fund raise earlier this month — amid heavy acquisition interest — that will see Cerkl’s headcount more than double over the next year.
Cerkl’s $7 million Series A, led by Florida-based River Bay Investments, will almost exclusively be used to hire and grow the business, Kamil told me.
Covid has proved a major disruptor for the startup, he said. To simply call it a tailwind would be an understatement.
“It’s been like a hurricane, and we’ve been holding on for dear life,” Kamil said. “It’s a little bit of survivors guilt, but once people got past the initial (shock of the pandemic), Covid took this really bright spotlight and highlighted issues all companies have in terms of communication.”
Cerkl, with a product it calls Broadcast, offers clients employee-outreach resources like tailored email newsletters, a personalized intranet and an immersive mobile experience. Kamil said it's like the Netflix of corporate communications. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, it's tailored, meaning the right employee communication is sent to the right employee on their preferred channel.
He said that approach is different than most startups playing in the space. Locally, Cerkl counts St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Paycor and Castellini Company as customers.
“The approach most have taken is that the channel is the answer to communication and engagement,” he said. “They think a mobile app, for example, is what they’ve been missing. But it’s not the channel, it’s the experience. If you think about Netflix, Netflix does not care if you are watching on your TV, your laptop, your phone. The channel to them is not the end, it’s the means to an end. Everything tailored to you. Corporate America does not work this way, and it’s a terrible experience we’re delivering to employees.”
Cerkl, since mid-2020, has grown from a staff of 22 to 40. A vast majority are based in Cincinnati. Twelve months from now, he said, the company, which is based in Blue Ash, plans to grow to 105.
The Series A brings the company’s total funding to $12 million. Kamil said Cerkl had initially targeted early 2021 for the raise, given its accelerated growth. That was delayed due to acquisition interest.
He decided not to sell the business at the moment because it wasn’t the right time. Cerkl plans to release another product next year, and there’s more value to unlock, he said.
“For us, it wasn’t the right time,” Kamil said. “There’s a lot more we want to accomplish; and the raise will help us get there.”
