Zugata
AcquiredPalo Alto, US · Founded 2014 · Delaware corporation · 3 known investors
Palo Alto SaaS company offering AI-driven continuous peer feedback and performance development, acquired by Culture Amp in 2019.
Also known as Zugata, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Zugata was founded in 2014 by Srinivas Krishnamurti.
Investors · 3
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Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$3.2M disclosed across 1 of 2 rounds · 2014–2016
▶$3.2MraisedOct 2015 · 15 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Philippe Van NuijsExecutive Officer, Director
- Srinivas KrishnamurtiExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $3.2M
- Amount sold
- $3.2M
- First sale
- Dec 2014
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2014
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Zugata was a Palo Alto, California-based enterprise software company founded in 2014 that built a software-as-a-service product for continuous employee feedback and performance development, positioned as an alternative to periodic managerial performance reviews. The system automatically identified the colleagues an employee worked with most closely and prompted those colleagues to exchange feedback directly. Depending on employer policy, feedback could be exchanged anonymously or attributed. Feedback content was visible only to the recipient; the employer, including its HR and IT functions, could not access the messages, and Zugata itself said it would handle any legally compelled disclosure requests.
The product presented raters with a set of skills expected for a colleague's functional role, and each skill could be marked as a strength or not yet a strength. Zugata also delivered learning modules with educational content addressing identified development areas. The company's stated rationale, per CEO and cofounder Srinivas Krishnamurti, was to separate professional development and goal-setting from salary and promotion decisions so that employees could receive candid feedback without it being routed to managers or HR.
Zugata was acquired by employee-feedback platform Culture Amp, announced in January 2019.
Founding story
The company was founded in 2014 by Srinivas Krishnamurti, who served as CEO, and Philippe Van Nuijs, who served as CTO.
Business model
Zugata sold software as a service to employers, which deployed the product across their workforces; the vendor positioned itself in the enterprise HR technology segment known as performance management. Following the 2016 Series A, the company also intended to help client organizations deliver corporate learning tailored to individual employees.
Software-as-a-service sold to employers; specific pricing was not disclosed in the available sources.
Traction
Publicly reported traction is limited; the Series A lead investor stated in November 2016 that the company was gaining traction in a large market. Customer counts and revenue were not disclosed in the available sources.
Latest developments
In January 2019, Culture Amp announced its acquisition of Zugata. Culture Amp framed the deal as adding an individual performance and development capability to its organizational feedback platform, stating that it then held individual and organizational feedback for more than 3,000 organizations.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Zugata operated in the HR technology and performance management market alongside startups such as Glint, Impraise and Namely and larger vendors including PeopleSoft and Cornerstone OnDemand, all of which had attempted to redefine the performance review. Its Series A investor described the market as large and said Zugata was gaining traction in it. Culture Amp described Zugata as an award-winning performance management firm at the time of acquisition.
Zugata distinguished itself from other performance-review and engagement tools by keeping exchanged feedback private to the recipient rather than visible to managers or HR, and by using automated detection of working relationships to route feedback requests. Canaan Partners general partner Hrach Simonian characterized the product as an objective system for scoring skills and setting goals rather than collecting badges, contrasting it with platforms he described as gimmicky.
Technology
Zugata applied artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine which employees should give feedback to which colleagues and to deliver learning modules addressing identified improvement areas. The system plugged into email and collaboration tools such as Gmail, Outlook, Slack and GitHub.
Go-to-market
Zugata sold to employer organizations, whose employees then used the tool; the product integrated with email and workplace collaboration systems, including Gmail, Outlook, Slack and GitHub, to determine collaboration patterns.
Employers and their HR/people functions seeking alternatives to annual or semi-annual performance reviews, with an emphasis on workforces including millennial employees.
Geography
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company said it intended to use its 2016 Series A proceeds in part for international expansion.
History
Zugata was founded in 2014 and based in Palo Alto, California. In November 2016 it announced a $7 million Series A round backed by Canaan Partners, General Catalyst and Redpoint Ventures, which it planned to spend on hiring, product development and international expansion. In January 2019, Culture Amp announced it had acquired Zugata, describing it as an award-winning performance management firm, and said the combination made Culture Amp a single solution spanning employee feedback and performance.
Risks & controversies
No controversies are described in the available sources. The sources note broader debate over the value of traditional performance reviews and employee engagement measurement, which shaped the market Zugata addressed.
Compiled by commissioned research from 2 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.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsEmployee feedback platform Culture Amp announced its acquisition of performance management company Zugata, combining individual, team and organizational feedback in one offering.
Zugata announced a $7 million Series A round with participation from Canaan Partners, General Catalyst and Redpoint Ventures, earmarked for hiring, product development, international expansion, and delivery of tailored corporate learning to clients' employees.
$7M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureIn the news
▸Research sources · 2
primary sources listed
- Zugata raises $7 million to make annual performance reviews obsolete | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com · web
2 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Zugata do?
- Palo Alto SaaS company offering AI-driven continuous peer feedback and performance development, acquired by Culture Amp in 2019.
- Who founded Zugata?
- Zugata was founded by Srinivas Krishnamurti in 2014.
- Who are Zugata's investors?
- Zugata's investors include Canaan Partners, General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures.
- How much funding has Zugata raised?
- Zugata has disclosed $3.2M raised across 1 of its 2 known rounds.
- Where is Zugata headquartered?
- Zugata is headquartered in Palo Alto, US.