Kona has been acquired by 15Five!

We’re thrilled to announce that Kona has been acquired by 15Five!

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There are several life-changing, serendipitous moments that have made Kona possible: meeting Yen at UCLA; the global shift to remote work; key intros to our investors and favorite Talent Success leaders. My coffee chat with Jim Morrisroe, CEO at 15Five, in late 2024 belongs on that list.

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From our first conversation, it became clear that 15Five and Kona had the same mission and vision: build a people-first world of work by enabling high-performing teams and great managers.

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Jim put it best: “People managers are the critical lynchpin for maximum employee performance, engagement and retention. The team at Kona has built a leading-edge product that allows organizations to tap into the power of their managers at scale, with surgical precision, in virtual communications channels where leaders are increasingly honing their craft. We’re thrilled to join forces with Kona and help HR teams further unlock the impact of manager effectiveness.”

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We’ve long admired 15Five’s impact and heart, and we can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together. 15Five accelerates our impact tenfold, adding a world-class performance management suite to Kona’s AI-powered manager copilot.

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Together, we’ll enable 15Five customers to deploy manager enablement at scale and drive high-impact behaviors effortlessly, within a manager’s existing flow of work. We’ve long dreamed of an end-to-end solution for HR and managers, and we’re a hundred steps closer to that vision. It goes without saying, this partnership will have an enormous impact on costly performance, engagement, and retention issues.

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It’s perfect timing––studies from Gartner show that manager enablement is a top priority for HR teams for three years in a row. Managers are stretched thin, historically underresourced, and face enormous pressures to drive outcomes. The best HR teams recognize this, and we’re excited to deliver an elegant solution for happier, high-performing teams. 

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To everyone in our five-year journey that took a bet on this small but mighty team, thank you. We wouldn’t be here without you. There are countless leaders and believers who played a huge part in this product’s growth, and we are incredibly grateful to have had you in our corner.

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We’re incredibly eager to begin this new chapter in Kona’s story. 

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Read more here: https://www.15five.com/15five-acquires-kona-the-ai-powered-manager-effectiveness-coach-for-remote-managers