Goldman Sachs Leads $70M Funding Of 'Social Intranet' LumApps

LumApps, an eight-year-old startup, raised $70 million to scale up its "social intranet" platform.

Goldman Sachs led the recent Series C funding round with participation from Bpifrance through its Growth Fund Large Venture for the french company. Other investors include Idinvest Partners, Iris Capital and Famille C (the family office of Courtin-Clarins), TechCrunch reported.

LumApps' Series B raised $24 million in 2019. Crunchbase lists its total funding amount before the Series C at $32 million, which puts it presently at over $100 million.

The intranet allows employees in an organization to get stuff done in a collaborative and private platform, but LumApps technology makes it more human by injecting social components to it. Its "social intranet" makes it easier for employees to connect, share information, and engage with each other and the organization. LumApps purpose is to "break down silos and streamline communication."

LumApps also integrates with Microsoft's applications, including Sharepoint Online, Microsoft Teams, Outlook 365, and Azure Active Directory in a global partnership it struck with the tech giant since last year. G-Suite can also be integrated with LumApps along with Zapier, AwesomeTable, TemboSocial, draw.io, ProcessMaker, and okta.

Citing the reason for integrating a collection of applications, CEO of LumApps Sebastian Ricard said in a press release last year, "Employees are increasingly distracted by switching from one app to another as they work within complex digital workplaces. LumApps combats this fragmentation with an integrated alternative that boosts daily productivity."

Ricard also says that they plan on developing an AI assistant to incorporate to LumApps, but professed that they would need "significant investment in top engineering/AI talent."

At the moment, LumApps is already servicing these big-name enterprises: Airbus, Veolia, Valeo, Air Liquide, Colgate-Palmolive, The Economist, Schibsted, EA, Logitech, Toto, and Japan Airlines. And, the investment will go to finding areas for expansion opportunities like retail, manufacturing, HR, communications, and marketing.

Ricard also tells TechCrunch that they will also focus on automating certain admin tasks to focus their team on more productive work functions. The company also plans on hiring at least 200 people, but as far as company acquisition goes, Ricard says they have no plans for it yet.