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Noviqu
Techstars '18Moberly, US · Founded 2017 · 1 known investors
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Noviqu builds digital training and safety solutions for manufacturers, focusing on digital problem-solving, knowledge sharing, and continuous learning to reduce risk and close skills gaps.
Also known as Noviqu, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Noviqu was founded in 2017 by Austin Gardner and Anna Swacker.
Investors · 1
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Company profile
researched Sep 2026Noviqu is a Missouri-based software company that provides safety, training and knowledge-retention software for manufacturers and healthcare organizations. Its platform lets safety and training managers build customizable digital training materials combining text, images, video and questions, and distribute them to frontline workers so job instructions and procedural knowledge are accessible at the point of work. On the management side, the software tracks training reports, employee progressions and recertification schedules, surfaces skills gaps, and provides analytics dashboards with customizable metrics.
Beyond training, the product covers safety reporting, maintenance scheduling and logging, and process management, positioning itself as a single tool through which managers and employees can access and enter data about facility operations. Gamified elements such as games and challenges are used to support employee engagement. The company states the software reduces administration and audit time and helps prevent fines. A Noviqu Workflows product was released in March 2019.
The company describes its origins in the digitization of paper-based factory processes and emphasizes integration with customers' existing systems. Named customers include Unilever, Everlast, the Durham Company, Frontier Co-op and SoleSource Medical.
Founding story
The idea for Noviqu emerged while Anna Haney, Chad Haney and Austin Gardner were running Tin Can Technologies, a Columbia, Missouri software services business, and working with a client; according to Anna Haney, the concept came out of a conversation in which several managers described in detail the frustrations of their jobs in front of the developers. Recognizing the need for a product, the trio gave up the relative security of the services business to build a scalable software company, founding Noviqu in 2017 — the same year Anna and Chad married. Gardner, who had joined Tin Can as an intern in 2015 with little programming experience while studying computer science at Columbia College, became the third co-founder.
Business model
Noviqu sells a configurable software platform to manufacturing and healthcare facilities, delivered as a recurring-revenue subscription product. Managers use it to build and assign digital training materials, track employee progressions, recertification schedules and training reports, and to run safety reporting and maintenance logging; frontline workers access job knowledge and instructions digitally on the factory floor. The company reported $8,760 in monthly recurring revenue and approximately 10 clients on a recurring basis as of 2022.
Recurring subscription revenue from client facilities; the company reported $8,760 in monthly recurring revenue and about 10 recurring clients.
Traction
Noviqu reported $8,760 in monthly recurring revenue and roughly 10 recurring clients as of 2022, with customers including Unilever, Everlast, the Durham Company, Frontier Co-op and SoleSource Medical. The company states it helped Unilever reduce employee onboarding time and costs by 40 percent. It had raised $290,000 in capital as of the 2022 interview and had completed the Techstars Kansas City (2018) and NMotion (2022) accelerator programs.
Latest developments
In 2022 Noviqu reappointed Anna Haney as CEO and appointed co-founder Austin Gardner as CTO, attended the International Production and Processing Expo, and joined the inaugural cohort of the 12-week NMotion Growth Accelerator in Omaha. After a period of reduced activity during the pandemic, the company said it had refocused its mission, was working with 10 recurring clients and planned to scale, with a stated focus on strengthening its sales process. Chad Haney has stepped back from day-to-day operations.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Noviqu is an early-stage, small-team company (listed at 1-10 employees, with two employees reported in one company profile) operating in the frontline workforce training, safety and knowledge-management segment. It targets a niche of manufacturing and healthcare facilities needing safety compliance and skills tracking, competing both with broader learning and workforce platforms and with incumbent paper-based processes. Directory listings place its annual revenue under $1 million.
Noviqu positions its combination of safety, maintenance, training and process management in a single customizable tool as its main point of difference, arguing that few competitors address all of these functions together with a focus on process management. The company also emphasizes customization to individual sites, integration with customers' existing systems, and its Midwestern manufacturing-region location and familiarity with manufacturing operations. Leadership has described the largest competitive obstacle as customer reluctance to change established, often paper-based, ways of working rather than rival vendors.
Technology
A web-based training and safety platform with a training kit for building custom digital materials (text, images, video, questions), workflow functionality, analytics and reporting, customizable metrics, and integration with customers' existing systems. Technology profiles list use of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure hosting, Microsoft ASP.NET, IIS and Windows Server, jQuery, Bootstrap, VuePress, HubSpot and Google Analytics, Piwik, Mailchimp, Microsoft 365 and Vimeo.
Go-to-market
The company sells directly to safety and training managers and manufacturing site leaders, using demo and quote requests on its website as primary inbound channels. Leadership has described sales as the biggest adjustment in moving from a services business to a product company and has used accelerator programs — Techstars Kansas City in 2018 and the NMotion Growth Accelerator in 2022 — partly to solidify and grow the sales process. Local institutions, notably the Moberly Area Economic Development Corp., have provided introductions to customers such as Everlast. Noviqu also attends industry events such as the International Production and Processing Expo.
Manufacturers and factory frontline workers, plus healthcare organizations; buyers are typically safety and training managers and site operations leaders. Named customers include Unilever, Everlast, the Durham Company, Frontier Co-op and SoleSource Medical.
Geography
Noviqu is headquartered in downtown Moberly, Missouri (65270), a town of roughly 15,000 people about 35 miles north of Columbia, where the founding team previously operated. Some business directories list the company in Columbia, Missouri. The company describes itself as made in the USA and has participated in accelerator programs in Iowa and Kansas City, as well as the Omaha, Nebraska-based NMotion program.
History
The concept behind Noviqu traces to 2014, when Anna Haney and Chad Haney launched Tin Can Technologies, a software services business in Columbia, Missouri; Austin Gardner joined Tin Can as an intern in 2015 while studying computer science at Columbia College. Noviqu was founded in 2017 (incorporated as a C-corp, founded May 2017) and based in Moberly, Missouri, after the Haneys relocated for family reasons. The team participated in the Techstars Kansas City accelerator in 2018 but concluded they were not ready to scale at that point. Noviqu Workflows was released in March 2019. Following a quieter period during the pandemic, the company refocused, named Austin Gardner CTO in March 2022 and Anna Haney CEO in May 2022, attended the International Production and Processing Expo in February 2022, and joined the inaugural cohort of the Omaha-based NMotion Growth Accelerator that year. Chad Haney is no longer involved in day-to-day operations.
Risks & controversies
Reported challenges include an underdeveloped sales function after transitioning from a services business, customer resistance to changing long-standing manual processes, concerns about hiring technical talent in a small rural market, and a period of limited growth activity following the pandemic. Third-party directories report conflicting figures for headquarters location, headcount and total funding.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Related companies · 1
Companies working in the same space as Noviqu.
Timeline · 6
launches, deals, and filingsNoviqu appointed co-founder Austin Gardner as Chief Technology Officer.
Noviqu attended the International Production and Processing Expo.
Noviqu joined the inaugural cohort of the Omaha-based, 12-week NMotion Growth Accelerator, with CEO Anna Haney travelling to Omaha for the program.
The founding team went through the Techstars Kansas City accelerator in 2018 and presented at its Demo Day.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Noviqunoviqu.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Noviqu do?
- Missouri-based software company providing customizable safety, training and knowledge-retention tools for manufacturers and healthcare facilities.
- Who founded Noviqu?
- Noviqu was founded by Austin Gardner, Anna Swacker in 2017.
- Who are Noviqu's investors?
- Noviqu's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Noviqu headquartered?
- Noviqu is headquartered in Moberly, US.