Helsinki, 18/02/2019 - Happeo has been selected as one of Adyen and The Next Web’s top scale-ups as part of Tech5 2019.
After raising $8 million in late seed funding in 2018, Happeo used its investment to further expand its commercial operation, located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. All product design and development is based in Helsinki, Finland – the place where its roots are firmly planted.
Perttu Ojansuu, CEO and founder of Happeo says: “After we received the investment, we knew we had the chance to expand our market footprint by investing more in sales and marketing. Our existing customers said Happeo revolutionized the way they work and communicate, so now we needed to spread the word”. That paid off: in 2018, Happeo tripled its amount of users and grew 280% in revenue. The company kicked off 2019 by signing Givaudan, BMW as new customers. To top it off, Google invited Happeo to speak at their Cloud Next 2019 conference in San Francisco. Here, Ojansuu will share the stage with Rebecca Henderson, CEO of Randstad Sourceright – one of Happeo’s biggest customers.
Ojansuu continues: “I’m overjoyed that industry giants The Next Web and Adyen acknowledge us this way. Happeo is built to make work a happier place in companies. By unifying isolated tools and bringing everything together in one platform, people can connect and get work done faster – wherever they are. I am humbled, and proud.”
Daniel van Heusden, Innovation Program Liaison at The Next Web says: “When selecting the hottest tech companies in Finland, we were looking at growth indicators such as traction, overhead, media presence and social impact. Happy to say that Happeo fulfilled them all. Within two years, Happeo managed to establish itself as one of the high-potentials in the ever growing digital workplace industry. It is therefore not only an honor, but also a must to have this scale-up on board for Tech5!”
About the competition: Tech5 showcases the hottest young scale-ups in all European countries and Israel based on their performance, growth, and potential. The top-5 of each country is selected as part of the Tech5 and covered by and listed on TNW.
What is the Tech5 competition and what criteria did Happeo meet to be selected?
Tech5 is a prestigious competition co-organised by payment platform Adyen and technology media company The Next Web (TNW). The initiative is designed to showcase the hottest young scale-up businesses across European nations and Israel, focusing on those demonstrating exceptional performance, rapid growth, and future potential. The top five companies identified in each participating country are officially selected to join the Tech5 cohort and are featured prominently on TNW’s platform, bringing them significant international exposure.
To secure its place as one of Finland’s hottest tech scale-ups in 2019, Happeo had to satisfy several rigorous growth indicators set out by the judges. The selection panel analysed critical metrics including the company’s market traction, operational overhead, media presence, and overall social impact. Happeo successfully fulfilled all of these criteria, demonstrating that it had built a highly viable and fast-growing business model in the digital workplace sector.
Within just two years of its journey, the scale-up established itself as a major high-potential player in the digital workplace market. Its recognition was backed by stellar performance metrics, including tripling its user base and achieving an impressive 280% revenue growth in 2018. The organisers highlighted that Happeo’s ability to quickly gain market share, whilst maintaining efficiency, made it an essential addition to the Tech5 list.
How has Happeo funded its growth and where are its offices located?
Happeo has successfully funded its rapid business expansion through multiple strategic investment rounds, allowing it to scale its operations internationally. In late 2018, the company secured 8 million US dollars in a late seed funding round. This initial capital injection was primarily channelled into expanding its commercial footprint and ramping up its sales and marketing efforts to spread the word about its digital workplace solutions. More recently, the company secured a further 26 million US dollars in a Series B funding round, aimed at helping fast-moving businesses solve the issue of information chaos.
Geographically, Happeo maintains a split operation to leverage specific regional strengths. The company’s roots remain firmly planted in Helsinki, Finland, where all of its core product design and development activities take place. This ensures that the technical evolution and user experience of the platform are driven by Finland’s renowned technology ecosystem. Meanwhile, the commercial side of the business is managed from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
By establishing its commercial operations in the Dutch capital, the company has positioned itself in a major European business hub, facilitating easier access to international markets and helping to drive its global sales strategy. This dual-presence strategy has allowed the firm to balance robust technical product development with aggressive international sales outreach, resulting in a rapidly expanding global customer base and highly successful market penetration.
What is the main purpose of Happeo’s platform and who are some of its major clients?
Happeo is designed to serve as a comprehensive “digital home” for organizations, with the core mission of making the modern workplace a happier and more connected environment. The platform achieves this by unifying previously isolated tools and bringing all essential communication, collaboration, and information systems together into one single, cohesive interface. By consolidating these disparate elements, the platform enables employees to connect effortlessly and complete their daily tasks much faster, regardless of their physical location.
This streamlined approach to internal communication and digital collaboration has attracted several large, high-profile global enterprises. At the start of 2019, the scale-up secured major commercial agreements with prominent multinational companies, signing both the German automotive manufacturer BMW and the Swiss flavours and fragrances creator Givaudan as new customers. These enterprise wins demonstrated the platform’s suitability for massive, complex organisations with diverse workforces.
Additionally, HR and recruitment giant Randstad Sourceright stands as one of the platform’s largest and most significant customers. The success of this partnership led to global recognition, with Google inviting the scale-up to speak at its prestigious Cloud Next conference in San Francisco. At this industry event, the Chief Executive Officer shared the stage with the CEO of Randstad Sourceright to discuss how the digital workplace solution revolutionized internal communications and transformed the way their global workforce interacts and collaborates.
