Energize Ventures-backed Beekeeper Adds $10M To Series B

I’ve been told by more than one venture capitalist recently that investors have their eyes on workplace productivity startups, especially with employees continuing to work remotely.

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In Beekeeper’s case, the company said Friday it has added another layer to its Series B that was first announced in September. This time it is a $10 million extension led by Energize Ventures, which just gave Beekeeper a $5 million extension in February.

Zurich-based Beekeeper has offices in Poland, Germany and the United States, and touts itself as being the “first communication and operations platform designed specifically for frontline workers.” Those are people in industries who must physically show up to their jobs and don’t often have a dedicated desk. The platform is a single point of contact for a company’s apps, tools and integrations.

Co-founder and CEO Cristian Grossmann said in a written statement that the company will use the new funding to invest in innovation and expand its product offering.

HighSage Ventures, SwissCanto, Thayer, Swisscom, Investiere, Alpana Ventures and Swiss Post also participated in the new investment, giving Beekeeper $60 million for its Series B, for a total of $86 million in funds raised since its inception in 2011.

“We have long believed that Beekeeper is setting the standard for how the modern frontline workforce operates and communicates, but the current crisis has given new urgency to the company’s mission,” said Juan Muldoon, partner at Energize Ventures, in a written statement. “Industries with largely deskless workforces, like energy and manufacturing, are digitizing at an accelerating pace, and we believe this digital transformation is here to stay.”

Other companies with productivity tools have also attracted investors. Two of the more recent funding raises I have covered were Clockwise, which raised an $18 million Series B round to help users schedule a dedicated block of time to be productive, and Spike, a conversational work ecosystem, that closed an $8 million Series A round.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias