Boulder-based Bonusly, an employee recognition and rewards platform, announced Monday that it has received $9 million in Series A funding to grow its team and built out its platform.
The round was led by Denver's Access Venture Partners, joined by Next Frontier Capital, Operator Partners and existing investor FirstMark Capital.
On Bonusly's platform, employees get a monthly allowance to give small bonuses to their colleagues to recognize their contributions. These points translate to a monetary amount, giving employees the ability to transfer them into real-world rewards.
Employees can take these points and turn them into things like Amazon gift cards, meals from Panera and Chipotle, as well as cash via PayPal.
With this funding round, Bonusly co-founder and CEO Raphael Crawford-Marks said the company would continue to grow its team and develop its platform.
"When everyone in an organization participates in recognition and rewards, people feel a sense of purpose and see that their contributions are valued by their bosses, peers, and others on their teams," Crawford-Marks said in a statement. "Employee engagement and morale are more important than ever, and this round of investment validates the value of our solution in meeting the pressing people challenges of the current environment and into the future."
As Covid-19 has forced many companies to a remote-first strategy, Crawford-Marks said Bonusly has stepped up to enable better communication, collaboration and team cohesion.
The company, which was founded in 2013, is working with over 1,700 companies to improve employee recognition and rewards. The company has raised nearly $14 million in total following this round.
"Raising money is not a marker of success in itself," Crawford-Marks wrote in a blog post. "What matters is how we invest that money to better serve our customers and equip them to bring out the best in their people."
Access Ventures, which led the round, said Bonusly fit seamlessly into the firm's 'future of work' investment theme.
"We searched across the country for the best companies that fit our future of work investment theme and felt that Bonusly is not only a company that positively impacts employee's lives, but also drives real ROI for customers through engagement and retention," Kirk Holland, Managing Director at Denver-based Access Ventures, said in a statement. "We know there is a huge market demand for what Bonusly is providing to individual employees, teams, and company culture, and we're proud to be an investor in that vision."
