London-based future of work startup Wazoku has closed a series B funding round of 拢8.5m through investment from Octopus Ventures.
Wazoku has also announced the acquisition of the Danish collective intelligence platform Mindpool, a research spinout that captures actionable employee insight to improve company performance.
Wazoku use AI-powered software and works with global enterprises such as NASA, Enel, HSBC, Shell and more to help them innovate at scale.
It will use the funding to drive R&D across its product suite, as well as further acquisitions.
Simon Hill, CEO of Wazoku, said: “Mindpool will be a valuable addition to our platform, combining human intelligence and technology to create a compelling proposition, offering actionable insight into company performance for all our global customers and through our Innovation_360 suite, we can remove the friction and improve the success rates.鈥�
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Rich Bolton, investment manager at Octopus Ventures, said: 聽鈥淚n a world in which volatility and complexity are increasing and the nature of work and talent are drastically changing, it is critical that organisations develop the capability and capacity to think and act differently when it comes to change and innovation.
鈥淲e have been impressed with the vision of the Wazoku team to help drive impact and innovation by creating a true operating system for innovation at scale. We back ambitious founders with a bold vision to change the world and are excited to support Wazoku in this next stage of their growth.鈥�
Alexander Crawford, co-head of investments at existing investor Calculus Capital, said: 鈥淲e are excited by the continuing growth of Wazoku since we invested in 2019.
鈥淲e are looking forward to working with the team over the next stage of its development鈥�.
Wazoku acquisition of the Danish collective intelligence platform Mindpool聽is the company鈥檚 third in three years.
The Danish firm was founded by serial entrepreneur Mik Thobo-Carlsen, globally renowned architect Bjarke Ingels, and Dr. Carina Antonia Hallin a collective intelligence and technology scientist at the IT University of Copenhagen.
Mindpool captures employee thoughts and predictions and provides actionable insights and ideas based on this collective intelligence, all geared to improving organisational performance and assessing overall company health using quantitative and qualitative data inputs.
Mik Thobo-Carlsen, Mindpool co-founder, added: 鈥淲azoku and Mindpool are not only aligned on strategy and vision, but more importantly on culture, purpose, and a common desire to build sustainable business, for a sustainable future. I cannot imagine a better fit to facilitate the next phase of our business.鈥�