Cornerstone Innovation Fund, the strategic investment arm of US-based talent management software producer Cornerstone OnDemand, yesterday announced the first four companies it has funded.
The unit was launched in 2013 with the aim of backing a few startups each year, focusing on those that would enable Cornerstone to expand its ecosystem. Cornerstone committed to investing between $250,000 and $1m, alongside other investors.
The four startups that received seed funding are One Month, Rallyteam and Strive, which each received an undisclosed amount, and Workpop, which counted Cornerstone among the backers of its $900,000 seed round.
One Month offers 30-day online courses for skills and software tools, while Strive facilitates the hiring of staff by automating much of the process, such as testing a potential employee’s skills.
Rallyteam has built a networking platform to be used internally by enterprise customers that matches staff to projects and enables teams to self-organise. Workpop matches the skills of hourly workers to those sought by employers, while businesses gain an overview of their contractors and provide feedback.
Workpop secured $900,000 in seed funding in April 2014 from Cornerstone, SV Angel, Obvious Ventures, Slow Ventures, Box Group, Ironfire Capital, Plus Capital and assorted angel investors before closing a $7m series A round in September 2014 led by Trinity Ventures.