Work Hound
Chattanooga, US · Founded 2015 · Delaware corporation · 3 known investors
WorkStep (WorkHound) is an AI-powered employee engagement platform for frontline and distributed workforces, offering surveys, AI-generated responses to feedback, targeted communications, and predictive insights. It helps enterprise HR and operations leaders capture real-time employee feedback to reduce turnover and improve retention.
Also known as Confirm · Engage · WorkHound · WorkStep
Founders & leadership
Work Hound was founded in 2015 by Max Farrell.
Investors · 3
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$1.5M disclosed across 1 round · 2019
▶$1.5MraisedJun 2019 · 13 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Andrew KirpalaniExecutive Officer, Director
- Max FarrellExecutive Officer, Director
- Elizabeth EngelDirector
- Offering amount
- $1.5M
- Amount sold
- $1.5M
- Minimum investment
- $25K
- First sale
- Jun 2019
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2015
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Work Hound operates an employee engagement and listening platform aimed at frontline and deskless workforces. The product, now presented as "Engage" and described as formerly WorkStep, is positioned as part of Confirm's three-part "Talent Flywheel" of Learn, Engage and Perform, with Engage serving as the layer for continuous employee listening, turnover-risk detection and manager action. Adjacent products marketed alongside it, and sold separately, include Learn:Go, Perform and Create.
Functionally, the platform spans four areas: listening (science-backed question sets; delivery via SMS, email, WhatsApp, QR code or shared devices with no app required; milestone and exit survey types; industry benchmarking), analysis (predictive turnover-risk signals, AI-powered comment analysis, favorability heatmaps by site, pre-built and custom reporting, eNPS tracking), action (AI-suggested actions per manager, automatic alert digests, action tracking by theme, turnover impact by initiative, alert-resolution reporting) and communication (confidential two-way messaging, AI-powered reply guidance, segmented broadcast messaging, scheduled sends and analytics, comment reply templates). The AI components are described as human-in-the-loop: an AI Assistant that surfaces urgent sentiment shifts and feedback themes at login, Comment Insights that analyzes 90 days of open-text feedback for recurring patterns, and AI Replies that drafts—but never automatically sends—responses in the leader's own voice.
Business model
Enterprise software sold to organizations, with structured onboarding scoped by headcount and number of sites, and companion products (Learn:Go, Perform, Create) sold separately from Engage.
Traction
Public customer references include Potbelly, whose Chief People Officer states the product helped save hundreds of thousands to millions in reduced turnover costs, and NFI, whose VP of Workforce Strategy cites the ability to identify root causes of attrition. The company states it has run implementations across hundreds of sites.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Competes in the employee engagement and survey software market with a specialization in frontline, multi-site and deskless workforces, offered as one module of a broader talent management suite.
Positioned for frontline and deskless workers rather than desk-based employees, emphasizing no-app access, continuous lifecycle listening (onboarding, milestones, exit) instead of annual surveys, and a shift from measurement to prescribed manager action with impact tracking against retention outcomes.
Technology
Cloud platform combining multi-channel survey delivery (email, SMS, WhatsApp, QR code, shared devices) with analytics and generative AI features: AI prompts to enrich open-text responses, AI comment analysis over rolling 90-day windows, predictive turnover-risk scoring, AI-suggested manager actions and AI-drafted feedback replies requiring human approval. Stated enterprise controls include SOC 2 Type 2 audit, ISO 27001:2022 certification, GDPR readiness with configurable regional data residency, third-party penetration testing, and roughly 99% uptime with around-the-clock end-user support.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales via demo requests, supported by customer testimonials, implementation programs across multiple sites, and cross-sell of adjacent products in the same platform.
Frontline-powered enterprise organizations in manufacturing, logistics and transportation, retail, food and beverage, hospitality and healthcare; buyers include HR leaders, people executives, site and floor managers, and procurement/IT/security stakeholders.
Geography
Headquartered in the United States; the platform offers GDPR readiness and configurable regional data residency for customers with regional data requirements.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 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.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureIn the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Work Houndworkhound.com · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Work Hound do?
- Frontline employee engagement platform, now sold as Confirm's "Engage" product, formerly known as WorkStep.
- Who founded Work Hound?
- Work Hound was founded by Max Farrell in 2015.
- Who are Work Hound's investors?
- Work Hound's investors include Dynamo Ventures, Level Equity, Stout Street Capital.
- How much funding has Work Hound raised?
- Work Hound has disclosed $1.5M raised across 1 round.
- Where is Work Hound headquartered?
- Work Hound is headquartered in Chattanooga, US.