Developed by Andy Grove at Intel in the 1970s, OKR is now one of the most popular management methodologies. OKR, which stands for "Objectives and Key Results", helps companies achieve objectives, including financial and operational goals. However, in places with many employees, it can be difficult to make sure everyone is on the same page. profit.co wants to keep teams connected with a platform that helps companies visualize OKR planning, review, and execution.
Headquartered in Fremont, California, with offices in Singapore, India and Japan, Profit.co announced today that it has raised $11 million led by Elevation Capital. The company says it has grown nine times in annual recurring revenue in the last two years. Profit.co's SaaS platform is used by more than 1100 clients in 25 countries, including Deckers Brand, Sandvik, Deriv, Singapore's Open Government and Phoenix Rescue Mission.
Before founding Profit.co in 2018, CEO Bastin Gerald worked at companies ranging from startups like Cashedge and Apptivo to large companies like Oracle. During his career, Gerald found different ways to manage and implement strategies for companies and clients. He commented that companies of all sizes were eager to adopt methods and products to track their priorities, but were having trouble implementing them. While working on Apptivo, Gerald created a deployment model that he realized had the potential to reach a broader audience. This became Profit.co.
Companies often use spreadsheets, presentation slides, and non-OKR-centric project management software to run their OKRs, but that makes it harder for companies to keep up with their plans as they grow and add employees. . It also means that team members and leaders have trouble seeing exactly how much work other teams are putting into projects.
Other OKR platforms include Microsoft's Ally.io, Workboard and Gtmhub, but Gerald said Profit.co differentiates itself by using the PEEL method (plan, execute, involve and learn) for its five key modules.
The first is the strategy module, which helps companies create a high-level plan for one to five years. Then, the Tasks module allows them to manage daily tasks, while the OKR module, which supports meetings, bridges the gap between long-term strategies and daily tasks. The last two modules focus on individual performance: the employee development module includes evaluating and improving employee performance, while the employee engagement module allows employees to report and be recognized for their achievements (next month a giveaway platform will be added).
Profit.co integrates with Slack, Jira, Salesforce, Hubspot, and Oracle, and while OKR is its default methodology, it can be used with others as well, including SMT. Most of its clients have at least 100 employees and come from a wide range of sectors, including financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, technology, and government organizations.
Examples of how companies have used the platform include REHAU, a polymer company with more than 20.000 employees that started Profit.co when it adopted OKRs. Profit.co helped increase transparency between employees from different departments. Another is online trading platform Deriv, which used Profit.co to keep teams updated on each other's goals and progress while scaling up to 1.000 employees in 50 countries.
Profit.co monetizes by charging per user and also offers advisory and consulting services for companies working on large-scale transformation projects. Part of its funding will be used for product development, including the addition of 30 new product categories.
In a statement on the funding, Elevation Capital Director Akarsh Shrivastava said: “As teams within organizations become more specific over time, it becomes imperative that business leaders have a reliable and comprehensive view of whether the objectives are being met. Profit.co is magnificently filling this gap through a combination of deep technical knowledge and a clear understanding of the needs of the organization.”
