You may have seen today’s announcement by Namely. In what my start-up friends tell me is a difficult market to raise money, they’ve just received another $30 Million in a follow up to their June C round. And, from existing investors.
In some ways the press release says exactly what you would expect in a funding announcement. Based on confidence, an investor list including Sequoia and True, two of the top ten VCs, double down with another $30 million to fund product and growth.
What makes both this release and Namely different, is that while establishing themselves as an emerging leader for HCM tech in the middle market they choose to talk about their focus on their customers and ensuring their compliance. An area with increasing complexity for employers of all sizes. Namely talks about empowering their customers with beautiful software, not disrupting them.
Having spent time with several of Namely’s customers, as well as their founder, Matt Straz, and various leaders in product, marketing, sales, and customer success, the word that jumps out at me when I consider Namely’s growth in HCM is one that I think you should hear more often when considering companies delivering technology to employers to help with HR related issues:
Thoughtfulness.
They’ve been thoughtful about the day to day realities their customers face. Thoughtful about providing solutions that make those days easier. Thoughtful about their customer’s compliance. Thoughtful about balancing rapid growth with scaling their business and product.
HR technology startups would be well served to watch Namely and take a page from their book as they consider growth in this HR technology market.
Disclosure: LAROCQUE, LLC has worked as an adviser to Namely.
