SAN FRANCISCO and WATERLOO, ONTARIO – Luminate Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on enterprise software, today announced a strategic growth investment in Axonify, a leader in frontline employee training software.
Luminate’s investment will enable Axonify to expand its leadership position in the frontline training and communications market by accelerating new product innovations and other key growth initiatives. Axonify will continue to be led by CEO and co-founder Carol Leaman
Axonify’s market-leading training and communication SaaS platform is purpose-built to serve frontline employees. Axonify delivers personalized, bite-sized bursts of learning directly into the flow of work, for just a few minutes a day, promoting employee behavioural changes that drive dramatically improved business results. Axonify is trusted by more than 160 global enterprise customers in 150+ countries around the world, including Walmart, Levi’s and Merck.
“This milestone was achieved thanks to the Axonify team’s dedicated focus on empowering frontline workers and our fantastic investment partners JMI Equity, Harmony Partners and BDC Capital, as well as the hundreds of customers that we proudly serve as their frontline training and communications solution,” said Leaman. “We are thrilled to partner now with Luminate as they have a superb track record of guiding growth-oriented SaaS organizations.”
“Axonify is a true market leader. They provide a winning combination of frontline-focused technology training solutions and content that help organizations support and nurture their employees’ performance,” said Hollie Haynes, Managing Partner at Luminate. “We are excited to partner with the Axonify team as they continue to scale and push the boundaries of the enterprise training marketplace.”
Dave Ulrich, Partner at Luminate, added, “Axonify’s ability to deliver consistent, critical training and communications to largely dispersed workforces has been particularly impactful in the last year, delivering significant value to customers. We believe there is a large global market opportunity for Axonify’s platform.”
In connection with the investment, Hollie Haynes, Scott Kingsfield, Chris Murphy and Dave Ulrich will join Carol Leaman and Axonify co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Christine Tutssel on the Axonify Board of Directors.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, pending customary approvals and closing conditions. Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Luminate. Gowling WLG LLP served as legal advisor to Axonify.
Also today, Axonify announced an employee training partnership with Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG). Dollar General will utilize the Axonify training platform and Content Marketplace to enable continuous, personalized business learning and development to its more than 157,000 frontline, supply chain and corporate employees.
“In an effort to continue to innovate our training initiatives, we required a modern learning partner that offered personalized, scalable training that fits within the flow of work, engages employees and supports the business while reducing time to train,” said Lori Bremer, Dollar General vice president of talent management. “Axonify’s frontline-forward vision was a natural fit for DG as we strive to empower our associates to deliver the very best customer experience.”
Used by other leading retailers, Axonify will enable Dollar General to measure how training knowledge is being applied on the job, helping the retailer align employee learning with business objectives. The Axonify platform is mobile-enabled and will allow Dollar General to employ a people-first device strategy through existing systems and mobile devices.
“Dollar General’s mission of Serving Others, and thereby serving its employees, is absolutely commendable and we are proud to further support that mission as a critical partner,” said Carol Leaman, Co-founder and CEO, Axonify. “Whether onboarding a new sales associate, rolling out a new technology or product, or communicating company policies, a modern approach to training that evolves from a one-size-fits-all method is critical for today’s frontline employees.”
Axonify focuses on frontline training that delivers personalized, bite-sized bursts of learning right in the flow of work. Frontline employees love the experience so much, they keep coming back for more which makes learning really stick and behaviors change to improve business results.
About Luminate Capital
Luminate Capital Partners is a private equity firm investing in growth software companies. Luminate partners with management teams to provide capital to drive strategy, growth, and operational improvements. Luminate’s portfolio of market leaders has also included Conexiom, Fintech, Oversight Systems, LiquidFrameworks, PDI, StarCompliance, Quantivate and Thought Industries. For more information, please visit https://www.luminatecapital.com.
About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 80 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day.® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, housewares and seasonal items at everyday low prices in convenient neighborhood locations. Dollar General operated 16,979 stores in 46 states as of October 30, 2020. In addition to high-quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers such as Clorox, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg’s, General Mills, and PepsiCo. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.
About Axonify
Axonify gets frontline employees ready for anything with a training and communications solution that actually works. Why does it work so well? Because the experience is fun, fast, personalized and designed to make critical information stick. And employees love it—83% of users log in 2-3 times a week, which translates into meaningful behavior change that drives business results. More than 160 customers in 150+ countries around the world, including Walmart, Levi’s and Merck, trust Axonify to fuel their people’s performance to keep pace with their business. Founded in 2011, Axonify is headquartered in Waterloo, ON Canada. For more information, please visit www.axonify.com
