Vista Equity Partners Invests in YouEarnedIt to Accelerate Growth in Employee Engagement Platform
AUSTIN, TX, April 5, 2018 — YouEarnedIt, the leading Human Resources SaaS company improving bottom-line performance metrics by enhancing the employee experience, today announced that it has received a strategic investment from Vista Equity Partners (”Vista”), in addition to investments from its previous investors, Ridge Ventures and Silverton Partners.
Vista is a leading, global investment firm focused exclusively on software, data, and technology-enabled companies. The investment in YouEarnedIt comes from Vista’s Endeavor Fund, focused on emerging, high growth companies with mission-critical enterprise software and data solutions seeking to expand their innovation and impact in the markets they serve. Vista provides these companies and their management teams with the capital, access and infrastructure to build an operational foundation for sustainable growth and long-term value.
“It has always been my vision to push the boundaries of employee engagement and give companies a better way to support their people and amplify their culture,” said Autumn Manning, co-founder and CEO of YouEarnedIt. “To be working with Vista – one of the best software investors available – to grow our presence in the HR software market is great validation for what we have built at YouEarnedIt and where we can go from here. With this partnership, we will be able to accelerate our growth by bringing additional expertise to our team, reinventing the next generation of our product, and expanding YouEarnedIt to new markets.”
“When Autumn and I launched YouEarnedIt, we understood that the importance of prioritizing culture to build incredible teams and companies was pivotal for businesses to succeed,” said Kenny Tomlin, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of YouEarnedIt. “We envisioned a product that would transform company culture through software in a way that positively impacts employee retention, engagement, and business performance. Not only does Vista share our vision, but their commitment, experience, and focus on the software sector will help us grow and evolve the business for the future.”
Vista will partner with YouEarnedIt to further extend its product platform into the performance enablement market, grow capabilities across the organization, and continue to expand its reach through increased sales execution. With an industry-leading retention rate, YouEarnedIt works with over 400 global customers – from 100 employee companies to global Fortune 100 enterprises – to boost culture and bottom line results through its robust engagement platform that delivers recognition, rewards, incentives, feedback, and team insights. Since raising its Series A round in January 2017, the Austin-based company has more than doubled in size, overhauled its engagement platform with a stronger and cleaner user experience and delivered a more comprehensive feature suite in culture and engagement enablement.
“Employee engagement and productivity continues to be a top focus for companies,” said René Yang, principal at Vista Equity Partners and co-head of the Endeavor Fund. “YouEarnedIt’s innovative approach to employee engagement provides a true platform for companies to enhance their culture of engagement and create incredible transparency across the organization. We are thrilled to be partnering with YouEarnedIt to help the business continue its strong trajectory of growth.”
In addition to the partnership with Vista, YouEarnedIt added two strategic business leaders to the executive team. Joining CEO Autumn Manning and Chief Product Officer C.K. Sample III are James Mann, as Chief Financial Officer, and Michael Logan, as Executive Vice President of Sales.
James Mann joins YouEarnedIt as Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for managing the financial strategy and operations of the high-growth HR software company. As an executive leader with over 20 years of experience, Mann is committed to the long-term growth and viability of YouEarnedIt while maintaining a high level of integrity and transparency.
Michael Logan has been named Executive Vice President of Sales at YouEarnedIt, where he is responsible for leading the sales and market development teams. As a seasoned leader with over 25 years of sales experience, Logan brings a strong track record in executing a customer-focused sales methodology to help YouEarnedIt continue to scale and serve its clients.
As a leader in the Human Capital Management industry, YouEarnedIt empowers businesses to drive meaningful changes in culture, employee engagement, the employee experience, and bottom-line business metrics.
About YouEarnedIt
YouEarnedIt amplifies company culture through its award-winning employee experience platform that delivers engagement, retention, performance management, and improved business metrics. As a dominant force in the HCM market with an industry-leading retention rate, YouEarnedIt partners with more than 400 global organizations to build high-performance cultures and engaged workforces. Founded in 2013, YouEarnedIt continues to revolutionize the employee experience with its platform based on the science of motivation, rewards, and recognition.
About Vista Equity Partners
Vista Equity Partners, a U.S.-based investment firm with offices in Austin, San Francisco, Chicago, and Oakland with more than $31 billion in cumulative capital commitments, currently invests in software, data and technology-enabled organizations led by world-class management teams with long-term perspective. Vista is a value-added investor, contributing professional expertise and multi-level support towards companies realizing their full potential. Vista’s investment approach is anchored by a sizable long-term capital base, experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions, and proven management techniques that yield flexibility and opportunity in private equity investing. For more information, please visit www.vistaequitypartners.com.