Pyn Raises $8M Seed Funding for In-House Communication Platform

The Rise of Personalized Internal Communications: Pyn Secures $8 Million Seed Funding

A significant number of marketers are proficient in delivering targeted communications to their customer base, aided by a wealth of available tools. However, the landscape of options for sending personalized messages internally within organizations is considerably less developed.

Pyn, a nascent startup originating in Australia, aims to address this gap. The company recently announced the successful completion of an $8 million seed funding round.

Investment Details and Key Backers

The investment was spearheaded by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional participation from Accel, Ryan Sanders – co-founder of BambooHR – and Scott Farquhar, the co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian.

This backing is particularly noteworthy given the background of Pyn’s co-founder and CEO, Joris Luijke. He previously held a leadership role in HR at Atlassian, followed by similar positions at Squarespace and other companies.

Addressing a Common Internal Communication Challenge

Luijke identified a recurring issue during his time in HR: the difficulty of delivering more focused and relevant messages to employees. “Throughout my career, I’ve been focused on personalizing internal communications,” he stated. “Pyn’s core function is to radically personalize employee communications.”

His co-founder, Jon Williams, brings substantial experience to the table as a former co-founder of Culture Amp, a prominent employee experience management platform established in 2011 and having secured over $150 million in funding.

Leveraging Existing Data for Personalization

Pyn achieves personalization by integrating with existing company systems, such as Workday, BambooHR, Salesforce, and Zendesk. This allows the platform to utilize data in a manner analogous to how marketers leverage information to tailor messages to customers.

Consequently, organizations can reduce the volume of broad, company-wide emails that may lack relevance for many recipients. Instead, they can distribute communications designed to resonate more effectively with individual employees.

Furthermore, similar to marketing communication tools, Pyn provides tracking capabilities to monitor email open rates and assess the success of messaging efforts.

Beyond Messaging: A Platform for Management Practices

David Ulevitch, general partner at a16z and the lead investor, highlights that Pyn also offers a library of customizable communication templates to support culture building and policy implementation. “Pyn functions as a framework for orchestrating management practices across an organization, providing a library of management playbooks,” Ulevitch explained in a blog post.

Team and Future Growth

Founded in 2019, the startup currently employs 10 individuals, with teams located in Australia and the Bay Area of California. The company is committed to diversity, with women already comprising half of the team, and plans to prioritize inclusivity as it expands.

Williams emphasized the connection between personalization and inclusion, stating, “Radical personalization is our guiding principle. To effectively cater to the unique needs of our employees, we must first understand them, making diversity essential to our mission.”

Early Adoption and Increased Demand

While specific customer numbers remain undisclosed, Pyn lists Shopify, Rubrik, and Carta as early adopters. The founders noted a surge in interest during the past year, coinciding with the increased need for frequent and meaningful internal communication prompted by the pandemic.