Switzerland-based employee communications platform Beekeeper increased its series B round to $60m yesterday with a $10m third tranche featuring postal service Swiss Post and telecommunications firm Swisscom.
Venture capital fund Energize Ventures led the extension, which included Swisscanto Invest, the asset management arm of financial services firm Zürcher Kantonalbank, as well as Alpana Ventures, Investiere, HighSage Ventures and Thayer Ventures.
Energize had already supplied $5m for the round in February this year, following a $45m first close in September 2019 featuring Swiss Post, Swisscom, Samsung Next and Edenred Capital Partners, the latter two on behalf of electronics producer Samsung and employee services firm Edenred.
The first tranche was co-led by Swisscanto Invest and Thayer Ventures, and additionally featured Alpana Ventures, Investiere, Atomico, Fyrfly Venture Partners, Hammer Team, HighSage and Keen Venture Partners.
Founded in 2012, Beekeeper has built a mobile communications platform for frontline workers that includes operational tools such as shift scheduling, in order to increase productivity. The product is aimed at sectors such as hospitality, retail and manufacturing.
The additional capital has been allocated to expanding the company’s marketplace for third-party apps, such as cloud storage service Microsoft OneDrive and social media platform Facebook.
Beekeeper closed its series A round at $21m in September 2018 with a $13m second tranche co-led by Atomico and Keen Venture Partners, with participation from Swiss Post, Samsung Next and Edenred Capital Partners.
Swisscom Ventures contributed to the round’s $8m first close the previous year, investing alongside Keen Venture Partners, Investiere, Fyrfly, Polytech Ecosystem Ventures, Btov Partners and assorted individuals.
Fyrfly led the company’s $5m seed round in 2016, with commitments from Btov Partners, Polytech Ecosystem Ventures and angel investors Ariel Luedi and Niklas Ostberg.
