Australia-based SafetyCulture raised a $73 million funding round at a valuation of $1.6 billion, doubling the company’s valuation from its $35.5 million raise a year ago.
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The funding was led by Insight Partners and included existing investors Tiger Global, Index Ventures and Blackbird. The company has now raised a total of approximately $180 million.
SafetyCulture’s platform helps its more than 28,000 customers perform checks, report issues, automate tasks, train employees and communicate to drive safety and efficiency in the workplace.
“It basically allows teams to do their best work every day,” said founder and CEO Luke Anear.
Anear started the company in 2004, after spending seven years as a private investigator for insurance companies eyeing worker compensation fraud.
“I got tired of looking at people who were hurt,” Anear said with a smile. “I wanted to help people not get hurt.”
Growth
SafetyCulture originally started as a training provider for the construction industry focused on safety. In 2011, the company unveiled its operations platform to help companies in different sectors comply with safety checklists and help monitor issues, Anear said.
The company now has two platforms — iAuditor and EdApp — and has expanded into helping companies perform quality control checks. SafetyCulture likely will expand into other operational aspects such as site attendance in the future, Anear added.
Not surprisingly, due to its safety background the 600-person company has undergone rapid growth in the last 12 months with the pandemic raging. SafetyCulture has grown 105 percent in the last year, and should be at $100 million in ARR by the end of this year.
“With offices starting to reopen, many employees are worried about their health and safety when it comes to returning to the workplace, so the need for a platform like SafetyCulture has never been more apparent,” said Teddie Wardi, managing director at Insight.
The future
Along with growing its platforms, SafetyCulture also may use the new money to make acquisitions, Anear said. The company acquired EdApp last September for $40 million, and he said the new money gives the company a unique opportunity to invest in or bring on board other startups that could help grow the company.
Some of the new money also went to employees seeking liquidity, although only a small amount, Anear added. He said offering long-time employees liquidity when they desire it is important to the company and SafetyCulture may raise new funding in the next 12 months if more want to cash in their options.
SafetyCulture has been cash flow-positive for the last 18 months, and will work toward getting the company prepared so going public is an option, Anear said. However, he said the company has no timeframe for such an event.
“If we think (going public) helps, we will,” he said. “But there is no plan.”
Wardi said given the widespread demand and need for workplace safety software as many organizations return to offices, he expects SafetyCulture to continue thriving as an independent company.
“We’re excited to partner with the team as they scale and provide innovative solutions for workers,” he said.
Illustration: Li-Anne Dias.
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