Beekeeper Raises $8 Million to Connect and Engage Two Billion Workers Without Desk Jobs

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - March 21, 2017) - Leading employee communications platform Beekeeper today announced it has secured $8 million in Series A financing. Keen Venture Partners led the round, and General Partner Robert Verwaayen has joined the Beekeeper Board of Directors. The round will be used to fund aggressive U.S. and EMEA market expansion for Beekeeper's employee communication app that connects and empowers entire workforces, including non-desk workers, anytime and anywhere.

Beekeeper also welcomed the participation of Fyrfly Venture Partners, Polytech Ecosystem Ventures, and b-to-v Partners. Prominent angels who invested in a personal capacity include Niklas Zennstro?m, Skype co-founder and founding partner at Atomico; Ariel Lu?di, former CEO of hybris and founder at Hammer Team; and Niklas Ostberg, co-founder and CEO Delivery Hero.

"Beekeeper closes the gap between employees working in corporate offices and 70% of the global workforce that doesn't spend their day sitting at a desk," said Cristian Grossmann, CEO of Beekeeper. "Beekeeper's mobile app enables all employees to work together better, and drives the top and bottom line through higher productivity and decreased turnover. We saw significant momentum in 2016 from the investments we made in customer success and new features to support major global enterprise customers, and we will use this financing to continue our expansion into new industries and markets in the year ahead."

Beekeeper's new financing comes within a year of closing its seed round and marks a time of rapid corporate growth. In the past year, Fortune 500 companies across the globe have adopted Beekeeper to easily connect with and empower employees regardless of role and location. New clients include hospitality giant Mandarin Oriental, retailer Dollar General, and food manufacturer Seaboard Foods, as well as Heathrow Airport, Gate Group and Dnata in the transportation sector. Beekeeper has also increased its user base by more than 500% and currently serves hourly workers in more than 137 countries.

"We believe that Beekeeper can become the employee communication and collaboration hub for a part of the global workforce that has been largely forgotten by digital technology," said Verwaayen. "With a great team, a robust product platform, and a focused growth plan, we are convinced that Beekeeper has the potential to become a category leading company."

The Beekeeper communication app is designed for those employees who work shifts, don't sit at desks, and do not have corporate email addresses. This represents more than 2 billion global workers in sectors such as hospitality, retail, manufacturing construction, transportation, food and beverage, and logistics.

With Beekeeper, companies can easily reach, connect and engage these employees to create new ways of working -- without requiring a corporate email or mobile number to login. The app is built from the ground up to be easy to use and features peer-to-peer messaging, communications streams, group chat, and mobile surveys.

For organizations, Beekeeper matches corporate identity and branding, with automated workflows and scheduling to fully support operational strategies and communication. The app features real-time measurement to improve communication efficiency, gain insight and calculate impact, allowing for continuous optimization. Beekeeper integrates with over 500 tools and can be extended further with shift management, payroll, intranets, or HR systems.

About Beekeeper
Beekeeper's employee communication platform connects and empowers entire workforces, including non-desk and frontline workers. Designed for industries that rely on hourly employees, Beekeeper boosts productivity and increases retention by making it easy to inspire and inform all employees in real-time. The Beekeeper app automates corporate communications, connects peers, and integrates easily with existing systems in a secure environment.

The company is based in Zurich and San Francisco, and supports users in more than 137 countries. For more information, visit www.beekeeper.io

About Keen Venture Partners LLP
Keen Venture Partners LLP is a new venture capital firm investing in high potential technology scale-ups. The firm invests in technology domains with transformative potential. When working with entrepreneurs, Keen's team is highly committed to help talented entrepreneurs with the best support possible by leveraging its network, expertise and capital. The firm operates from London and Amsterdam and focuses on European and select North American investment opportunities. Keen Venture Partners LLP is a Small AIFM authorised in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and registered as a manager of a 'EuVECA' (a 'European Venture Capital Fund'). The investment in Beekeeper benefits from the support of the European Union under the Equity Facility for Growth established by the Council establishing a Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium enterprises (COSME).

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