Forj, a Milwaukee company that makes an online platform to help professional organizations build community, has raised $15 million and merged with Madison-based Web Courseworks, according to a Thursday announcement.
The funding round was led by Plymouth Growth, an investment firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Baird Capital and Gary Comer Inc. (GCI), a Waukesha private equity firm established by the late founder of Dodgeville-based retail firm Lands' End Inc., also invested.
Forj is led by Kurt Heikkinen, who formerly was the CEO of Montage Talent Inc., a Delafield-based recruiting and hiring automation company that merged with a Cleveland firm in 2019 to form what is now Modern Hire. Plymouth Growth, Baird Capital and GCI were all investors in Montage.
"Having partnered previously with Kurt ... we are thrilled to back this proven leadership team in bringing two great organizations together," Plymouth Growth partner Evan Ufer said in a statement. Ufer joined Forj's board of directors.
Forj was launched in 2021. With the latest funding, the company has raised at least $21 million to date, according to Wisconsin Inno reporting. In June 2021, the company raised $4.5 million from Baird and GCI and at the time said it had raised a total of $6 million.
The Forj platform is designed to help associations and professional organizations deliver personalized content, enable member-to-member connections and offer learning experiences. Web Courseworks is a learning management system that will be integrated into Forj.
Former Web Courseworks CEO Amber Winter is now the chief client officer at Forj.
