Deirdre O Meara 
Video conferencing company, Zoom, has announced its acquisition of Cork-based employee communications software firm, Workvivo, for an undisclosed sum. The deal is set to be completed in early 2022.
Founded in 2017 by Joe Lennon and John Goulding, Workvivo has raised €36m through various funding rounds in recent years. Tiger Global is the majority investor, while local Irish venture capital firm Frontline, Zoom founder Eric Yuan and Enterprise Ireland are also investors. Recent accounts show that Goulding and Lennon own around 75% of the company’s shares between them. The firm counts Amazon, Ryanair, Liberty Mutual and Wynn Resorts among its clients. Workvivo competes with Microsoft Viva, Facebook Workspaces and other employee portal services from tech giants. Its platform service provides access to common workplace tools such as Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace and several popular HR, customer relationship management and productivity tools.
Goulding said, “Zoom’s rapid pace of innovation and the persistent dedication to building products with a human-first mindset is why we are most excited about joining the [Zoom] team. Our platform replaces outdated, clunky, internal communications tools with a vibrant, familiar social experience, and has a proven history of unparalleled levels of adoption. With Zoom, we can build great things together, make teamwork more meaningful, and extend collaboration beyond knowledge workers, allowing us to reach employees who have historically felt disconnected from the company.”
Following the completion of the acquisition, Zoom plans to integrate Workvivo’s capabilities into its own platform. “We are excited to welcome the Workvivo team to Zoom,” said Zoom’s CFO, Kelly Steckelberg. “Workvivo has set the standard for employee communications, helping businesses reach and engage millions of employees worldwide. Workvivo prioritises ease-of-use and simplicity of design, offering the best user experience which is a perfect match to Zoom’s DNA.”
This acquisition is the latest in a string of purchases by Zoom. The company has been expanding its offerings beyond video conferencing in recent years, with the acquisition of cloud call centre software provider, Five9, for $14.7bn in July 2021, and the acquisition of Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – better known as Kites – in August 2021.
The pandemic has accelerated the need for remote working tools, and the acquisition of Workvivo will allow Zoom to offer a more complete package for businesses. The addition of Workvivo’s employee engagement software will enable Zoom to offer a more comprehensive solution for businesses looking to improve employee engagement and communication.
Overall, the acquisition of Workvivo is a strategic move for Zoom, as it looks to cement its position as a leading provider of remote working tools. The integration of Workvivo’s capabilities will enable Zoom to offer a more complete package, which will be attractive to businesses looking to improve employee engagement and communication.
