HighGround, employee engagement platform leader, today announced the company has closed $7.6 million in Series A1 financing. The round was led by Chicago-based KDWC with additional investment from existing investors, including Columbus Nova Technology Partners and Lightbank. Collectively, HighGround has raised more than $19M. This new infusion of funds follows a high-growth 2015; CAGR was over 300 percent and the number of customers increased by more than 200 percent.

'HighGround's offering is incredibly well-timed with market demand,' said KDWC partner, Chris Capps. 'Businesses are craving new solutions that increase employee engagement levels and modernize performance management communication within a corporation. The platform boosts productivity, morale and employee satisfaction levels. HighGround is a powerful cloud platform. We are excited to collaborate with them as they build a world class product suite that will revolutionize how employees interact with management and each other day-in and day-out.'

HighGround Founder and CEO, Vip Sandhir, added, 'Many point solutions are emerging in the engagement and performance management space, but most are only addressing a slice of the business problem. KDWC's investment is a strong endorsement of our technology and approach.'

The company will use the recently acquired funds to invest in two key areas: aggressively expanding its sales and marketing efforts, and further solidifying its place as the employee engagement and development platform leader. As companies recognize their chosen HRIS system lacks the ability to facilitate an ongoing dialogue with employees, HighGround offers a refreshingly simple yet powerful solution to engage and develop the modern employee.

'HighGround is a platform that drives engagement, feedback, recognition and development,' said Kent Frazier, VP of Talent for Lieberman Research Worldwide. 'We are able to archive those interactions on the platform so it's not a once-a-year conversation that everyone dreads. HighGround is helpful in companies making the shift from an annual conversation to something that happens everyday.'

HighGround, built on a foundation of mobile and social, empowers employees at all levels of the organization. Managers have access to tools that facilitate more impactful coaching conversations. Employees can create their own goals, recognize one another's accomplishments and share opinions and sentiments. HR leaders and executive teams can now get unprecedented insights into their workforce. HighGround aggregates a history of employee and manager interactions in a highly valuable repository that gives visibility into what people are doing, their history and experiences at work, and how they progress in their careers. Leaders can use it to address specific business problems, such as how to improve sales productivity, reduce fraud or accidents and improve retention.

About HighGround

HighGround offers the first HR cloud platform designed for the employee to help companies build highly engaged and high-performing cultures through continuous feedback, ongoing employee development and real-time recognition. By using HighGround employees are empowered to create their own goals, recognize peers daily and contribute to their own career path. Companies can also more effectively capture the voice of the employee and turn annual performance reviews into meaningful, ongoing coaching sessions. With an inspired workforce able to reach its full potential and visibility into organizational health, HighGround customers, such as Cision, Patagonia, Echo Global Logistics and Allianz can increase employee retention, productivity, customer satisfaction, and ultimately drive bottom line results. To learn more, visit www.highground.com.