Corporate incentive firm raises US$9.3m


6 Oct 2004

A Dublin headquartered web motivation service provider to human resources and sales managers this morning revealed that it secured US$9.3m in second round venture capital funding. The funds will be used to expand the company’s move into the US market.

Globoforce develops and implements motivational, reward, recognition and incentive programs for the world’s leading corporations. The company is a leader in the fast-growing non-cash corporate incentive market, estimated by the US Incentive Federation to be worth US$27bn in the US alone.

The funding round was led by international venture capitalist Atlas Venture and included existing backer Benchmark Capital.

Eric Mosley (pictured), CEO of Globoforce, commented: “We will use the funds to expand our US operations and further enhance our products to provide even more of the unique capabilities needed to manage and implement worldwide corporate incentive programs.”

Globoforce’s web based incentive solutions meets the needs of large firms with geographically distributed workforces and support multiple languages and currencies. The company has a network of retailers in over 70 countries offering employees local merchant awards that have value in each country. At the same time the technology provides corporate headquarters of customers with a consolidated view of the company’s worldwide incentive activity. Customers of Globoforce include Intel, Citigroup, Microsoft and Vodafone.

Sonali De Rycker, a partner of Atlas Venture, will join the board of Globoforce. He commented: “Globoforce has built an impressive track record of delivering value to a set of demanding global corporations. Now is the time to accelerate its expansion in the US to meet growing customer demand. We believe the company’s robust, integrated and international managed service solution is unique in the marketplace and are confident Globoforce will rapidly extend its position as a leader in the incentive market.”

By John Kennedy