People Mgmt platform, Lattice picks up $45MN at a $400MN valuation

The COVID-19 pandemic is often described as a “once in a lifetime crisis”. The impact of COVID-19 on the economy, governments, businesses, and people is unprecedented. We have accepted the WFH as the new norm to help curb the spread of the virus.

As per latest development, Lattice, a platform that helps track, reward and set goal achievement in the workplace, has closed a round of $45 million to help address some of those issues.

This Series D funding is being led by Tiger Global with participation from Frontline Ventures, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital Partners, Fuel Capital, and Y Combinator. It values the company at around $400 million, CEO and co-founder Jack Altman (whose brother Sam used to run Y Combinator and is now at OpenAI…) said in an interview. It doubles Lattice’s valuation since October 2019, when the startup closed a Series C of $25 million, also led by Tiger Global.

This development comes as a good sign in such crisis times. Lattice has seen a considerable growth in its own customers numbers to 1,900 businesses, from 1,400 in October (with their size in the 50-1,500 range generally) and Altman says that Lattice’s employee count, which now numbers around 200, has grown at the same rate.

Lattice, along with companies like it, have taken on a key role — that of providing structure in an organization — at a time when we have lost a lot of that.

“In March and April our customers were transferring to remote and business slowed down, a lot,” he said. “Now, it’s picked up.”

Lattice’s product covers a spectrum of tools that both tap into the idea of proactive usage, and more passive data flow, both to help build up a picture of how employees are doing, and also to help provide better communication of goals achieved between those employees and their managers.

Altman (Jack, not Sam) says that he believes we are at least five years away from realistically building AI platforms that can seamlessly track all our work activity, both within our work apps and in a wider network of digital activity — to provide us with real time updates on how we are doing, what we’re doing well but also how we could be doing better.

That’s before considering whether we are ready to accept that kind of concept as helpful and not dystopian. Lattice, he added, is definitely interested in that long-term goal even as it continues to build products that can address performance management as it’s known and identified as a business area today.

“In the migration to a more remote world, the tools for organizations to help manage, engage, and develop their teams are more important than ever,” said Miles Grimshaw, Partner at Thrive Capital, in a statement. “We’re excited to further advance the impact of Lattice’s employee success platform.”

While we are all now well accustomed with the new normal and routine of working, Lattice as an organization has both opportunities to continue and grow as a standalone service, as well as one that might potentially get snapped up in that wider consolidation trend amid the big shift.