Groopit CEO Tammy Savage. (Groopit Photo)

The news: Employee data crowdsourcing startup Groopit landed $3.5 million to fuel its go-to-market strategy.

The product: The Seattle company lets business leaders collect and share info about sales, products, customers, competitors, and strategic corporate initiatives. The model resembles Waze, the traffic navigation app that aggregates data from drivers about traffic accidents and speed traps, CEO Tammy Savage told GeekWire.

The idea is to harvest real-time insights and data from employees who are in the field, a method Savage refers to as “crowdsolving.”

Groopit plans to roll out generative AI tools. “What’s interesting is that Groopit is in a position to combine the power of automated intelligence, with real-time human intelligence, in ways that have not yet been done,” Savage said.

The players: Savage founded the startup in 2018 after spending more than two decades at Microsoft in various management roles. Her co-founder and CTO is John Vert, another longtime Microsoft leader who also spent five years at gaming giant Valve. The company has nearly 20 employees and is hiring.

Groopit’s platform integrates with tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, and more. (Groopit Gif)

The differentiation: Groopit’s data collection tool is comparable to Qualtrics’ survey software, which helps business leaders assess employee well-being and gather other actionable insights.

Savage said Groopit is uniquely positioned because it’s the first to adopt the “crowdsolving” model. She said the platform is dynamic, capable of gathering real-time information across multiple platforms including Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, and more.

“In every case, Groopit’s enterprise customers have researched alternatives and have returned convinced that crowdsolving is a new category of software,” Savage said.

The customers: Groopit customers include Home Depot, Guidant Financial, Mosaic, and Stuckey’s Corporation. The startup expects to reach annual recurring revenue of $1 million by next year.

The tailwinds: Many companies are pulling back on software spending to conserve cash amid the economic downturn. However, Savage said enterprises are still investing in tools like Groopit that can identify ways to drive revenue, cut costs, and gain competitive advantages.

The funders: The fresh cash comes after the company raised $1.75 million in 2021. The latest round was led by WestRiver Group, with participation from existing investors Cercano Management, Tapas Capital, Cascade Seed Fund, and others. Previous backers include Ascend.vc and Voyager Capital.

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