Columbus startup Aware doubled revenue year-over-year and plans to raise a round at an increased valuation sometime in 2023, co-founder and CEO Jeff Schumann said.
A distribution partnership with the supplier to the largest U.S. telecommunications companies plus a new push into middle-market clients could lead to doubling again or even tripling this year, Schumann said. Revenue figures are not yet disclosed, but will be once the company seeks an IPO in the coming years.
"Investor interest in Aware is at an all-time high," Schumann told Columbus Inno. "We're seeing demand in our business almost the antithesis of what the market is seeing."
As with its $60 million VC round in 2021, investment firms are calling unsolicited – against a backdrop of the lowest nationwide projected venture funding in decades. Aware has mostly grown through revenue and doesn't need outside capital to survive, Schumann said, but could use investment to spur even faster growth.
Aware's AI software analyzes real-time activity on workplace collaboration platforms such as Slack and Facebook Workplace. At first it focused on cybersecurity and regulatory compliance – detecting potential leaks of legally protected information, for example.
The software has evolved into a more complete digital "voice of the employee" – representing front-line workers who don't typically have access to top execs and the board, Schumann said.
With aggregated, anonymized data, for example, the software can alert leadership that a particular lagging step in a checkout process is frustrating workers and slowing sales – or to more serious concerns such as racial micro-aggressions not reported to HR.
"They're talking about it with each other, but leadership doesn't know – or maybe the wrong leaders know and aren't doing anything with it," Schumann said.
Some people spoke against a jobs incentive Columbus City Council awarded in summer, accusing Aware of helping employers "spy" on employees – which Schumann denies.
"It actually upsets me," Schumann said. "When you get to know our technology, we're focused on the exact opposite. ... It's giving employees a voice – it's empowering them."
Two distribution partnerships set to start this year will put the software before more potential customers:
- World Wide Technology, the largest IT reseller to telecom companies such as AT&T and Verizon, which could lead to $100 million in revenue in coming years. One of Aware's first customers was T-Mobile, Schumann said, so the goal is to replicate the success with more telecoms.
- Carahsoft Technology Corp., a governmental IT vendor.
Bringing tech to the century-old Ice House
Aware, the DBA of Nullable Inc., moved this January a few blocks north in the Brewery District to the historic Hoster Brewing Co. Ice House, installing sleek conference rooms and tiny phone booths beneath the 1800s-era pulleys and hardware on the ceilings. A metal staircase is stamped with the logo of the Carnegie Steel Co., which once had a steelworks on the south side.
The startup won the 2022 Columbus Inno Madness competition, but came in third for this year's inaugural Central Ohio's Coolest Offices.
Check the slideshow for a tour of the new space.
Aware HQ
Construction continues – future buildouts include a podcast/video production studio and a client briefing room to showcase technology. It occupies the top three of the four floors with an option to expand into the first.
The hybrid workforce now has access to a variety of group or solo workstations, in open or enclosed spaces, including the library where silence is enforced, or the "speakeasy" entered through a swinging bookcase.
Schumann has met with prospective clients and investors in the speakeasy room, which was created at the request of employees and stocked with their favorite libations.
"We're trying to create a feeling of home," Schumann said. "We wanted a place you could come and escape – you don't feel like you're at work any more."
Recent pivots led to restructuring, Schumann said, although the jobs cut balanced out with new hires for different skills. Some transferred to the new roles.
Aware typically has signed clients that employ many thousands of workers, although it would take on smaller clients if they approached. Now the company is actively marketing to businesses with 1,000 to 5,000 employees, which required some different skill sets.
Aware ended up at about 120 employees, and is hiring. Schumann said it's building a Seattle-area team of "phenomenal" engineers let go from giants lincluding Amazon, Microsoft and Meta.
This is the first year to count local jobs added to a base of 60 for the incentive, for a potential payment in 2024 based on a percentage of city income tax withholding.
The company also has replaced the chief revenue officer hired one year ago, naming Kevin Colón to the role. Most recently with Proton, Colón has 30 years' experience leading growth at enterprise software companies, including one that was acquired for $2.3 billion.
"He's had plenty of success at our stage and beyond," Schumann said.
Aware also is soon to name its first CFO, who has helped take software companies public before. It hired its first CTO in fall and chief marketing officer in January. Most of the C-suite is remote, in Florida, Silicon Valley or Seattle.
"As we do get bigger, it's kind of a double-edged sword," Schumann said. "We must be better than ever at communication.
"I'm excited about the problems we're solving and who we're solving them for," he said. "The people at Aware – I'm so happy Monday morning to wake up and come work here."
