Achievers

Last updated
Achievers
Company type Private
IndustryHuman capital management software
Founded Toronto, Canada
2002;22 years ago (2002)
FounderRazor Suleman
Headquarters
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Victoria, Australia
  • Manchester, England
Website achievers.com

Achievers is a Canadian employee engagement and recognition software company co-headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Victoria, Australia, and Manchester, UK. [1]

Contents

History

Achievers (formerly I Love Rewards [2] ) was founded in 2002 by Razor Suleman in Toronto, Canada. [3] He decided to start Achievers upon being appointed to provide a solution for a consulting project for a large corporate client that wasn't having a lot of success motivating their employees. [4] [5] In 2007, Achievers raised $3.3 million in its Series A funding round led by Laurence Capital, Relay Ventures, [6] [7] and JLA Ventures followed by a Series B funding round worth $6.9 million in 2009. [7] In September 2010, the company opened its office in Boston and changed its name to Achievers, [8] [9] and in May 2011 opened its office in San Francisco, California to function as the company's US headquarters. [7] [10]

In September 2011, Achievers received $24.5 million in its Series C funding round led by Alfred Lin's American venture capital firm, Sequoia Capital, and supported by GrandBanks Capital, JLA Ventures and Ontario's Venture Capital Fund. [11] [12] [8] In the same year, Suleman was named a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award. [5] [13]

In 2015, Suleman sold Achievers to Blackhawk Network for $150 million. [14] [15] In 2018, Blackhawk went from a public company to a private company, during which time Achievers spun out from Blackhawk as a separate entity and is now co-owned by Silver Lake and P2 Capital Partners. [16] [17]

In 2020, Achievers acquired TemboSocial, a Canadian software startup that develops employee recognition and feedback solutions. [18] [19]

Achievers has been recognized by numerous organizations for its workplace culture and technological achievements, including Great Place to Work, [20] HRO Today's Bakers Dozen, [21] Brandon Hall Group, Stevie award [22] and ranked in the second place in the smaller-business category of this year's Best GTA Employers awards in 2011. [9]

Achievers software

The Achievers employee experience platform is designed to provide HR teams with a suite of employee engagement programs to connect employees and build cultures of belonging. [18]

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References

  1. Takahashi, Dean (2011-09-29). "Achievers raises $24.5M for employee rewards platform". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  2. Cohan, Peter. "Achievers Gets Sequoia's Capital To Boost Employee Engagement". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  3. Cohan, Peter. "Can $38 Billion Employee Incentives Industry Boost Corporate Profits?". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  4. Kosoff, Maya. "Why a founder on track to take his company public sold it for $110 million in cash instead". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  5. 1 2 "How this employer stopped worker exodus". The Globe and Mail. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  6. "Achievers". app.dealroom.co. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  7. 1 2 3 "Toronto's Achievers snags US$24.5M in financing". Financial Post.
  8. 1 2 "Why would a company change its name?". The Globe and Mail. 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  9. 1 2 Star, Peter Gorrie Special to the (2011-11-23). "Enthusiasm key to fast-growing rewards company". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  10. Casserly, Meghan. "Find A Job The Online Dating Way". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  11. "Employee reward site raises $24.5 millon from Sequoia". Reuters. 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  12. Cohan, Peter. "Achievers Gets Sequoia's Capital To Boost Employee Engagement". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  13. Falconer, Kirk (2016-09-07). "Achievers' founder Razor Suleman appointed CEO of NEXT Canada". Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  14. "Gift Card Seller Blackhawk Expands With Achievers Buy". Investor's Business Daily. 2015-06-11. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  15. "Entrepreneur incubator Next 36 hires its first CEO in tech millionaire Razor Suleman". Financial Post.
  16. "Two years after its own acquisition, Achievers buys TemboSocial | BetaKit". 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  17. "U.S. fintech firm Blackhawk to go private in $3.5 billion deal". Reuters. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  18. 1 2 "Two years after its own acquisition, Achievers buys TemboSocial | BetaKit". 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  19. "PetSmart and Chewy are splitting three years after their tie-up". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  20. "Best Workplaces in Canada 2022: 100-999 employees". The Globe and Mail. 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  21. Roth, Audrey (2014-08-19). "Real-Time Rewards". HRO Today. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  22. "2023 Winners in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service". mobile.stevieawards.com. Retrieved 2023-12-08.