As work from home continues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Detroit company that connects employees in new ways has completed a $3 million Series A round of financing.
Sift, a people directory for companies, said the investment was led by Detroit’s Rock Holdings and will be used to expand Sift’s sales and marketing teams.
The company also announced Mike Malloy, chief amazement officer at Rock Central, and Jared Stasik, partner at Detroit Venture Partners, will be joining Sift’s board of directors.
“Sift is an excellent tool that is uniquely suited to meet this moment of digital-first workspaces,” says Jay Farner, CEO of Rock Holdings. “More than ever, organizations across all sectors need user-friendly technology that allows people to navigate their enterprise. Sift makes it simple to find and understand the roles, responsibilities, and personalities of colleagues so they can work better together.”
Sift offers a people search, organization charts, and employee profiles designed to allow easier collaboration and search among employees across organizations. It integrates with existing human resources data systems and collects additional information from team members and LinkedIn.
The company says it has seen a significant increase in new customers and key executive meetings throughout the first half of the year.
“We’ve used Sift for years to encourage connection, employee engagement, and productivity within our family of companies,” says Malloy. “We have more than 20,000 team members across multiple locations, and Sift is like having the whole (team) in your contacts on your phone, just a search away. I don’t know how any modern enterprise functions without a tool like Sift.”
Demand for enterprise collaboration software had been rising prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and has hit a new high in its wake, according to Sift. As people work from home, companies want more tools to stay connected to co-workers. Unlike other platforms, Sift says it offers the ability to understand roles or personalities and explore and expand networks.
“Connecting the talent companies already have has never been more critical or challenging,” says Larry Angeli, CEO of Sift. “As remote work trends accelerate, Sift is bringing tremendous value to organizations that place a high value on employee engagement. The tremendous traction our team achieved over the last year is proof, and this additional funding puts us in a position to make the future of work even more exciting. We will leverage this investment to accelerate product development and expand our growth teams to meet the demands of that market in this critical moment.”
