PR91704

HAMBURG, Germany, Sept. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

German COYO and Finnish Smarp announced they would merge both SaaS companies.

The combined organization will be servicing medium-sized and large businesses

from offices in the US, Germany, UK, France and Finland, with customers like

Salesforce, Google, Amazon, DHL, Deutsche Bahn and E.ON.

By combining Smarp's employee communications and advocacy portfolio with COYO's

social intranet and employee engagement offering, the new player will address

the challenges of an increasingly mobile workforce and how companies can

effectively manage change while keeping their employees engaged and motivated.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred demand for digital workplace solutions. Both

companies have seen double-digit topline growth in the past three years

featuring a combined customer list of more than 700 companies from various

industries. Customers of Smarp and COYO will benefit from an extended portfolio

that includes multi-channel communication, social intranet, employee surveys,

employee advocacy and a marketplace for widgets and connectors. For the time

being both Smarp and COYO will continue to operate under their current brands.

Product development and sales of both platforms will be continued.

The transaction has been supported by Marlin Equity Partners, a global

investment firm with over $7.6 billion of capital under management. At the same

time, the management and founders of Smarp and COYO as well as Smarp's largest

investor, Nauta Capital from London, will be investing in the new firm.

Jan Marius Marquardt, CEO and founder of COYO, comments:

"We are absolutely excited about joining forces as global businesses have never

shown a greater need to drive employee engagement during a pandemic and while

their digital transformation has not been completed yet. There is both a need

and an opportunity for our two companies to form a global leader based on the

combined experience we can bring in."

Roope Heinila, CEO and founder of Smarp, says:

"COYO and Marlin are excellent partners for us to take our common vision

forward thanks to the compatibility of our products. It has also been a

pleasure to see how well our corporate cultures fit together."

"Thanks to our broader offering, we are able to serve our enterprise-level

customers in an even more diverse manner in both Europe and North America. I

firmly believe that our customers will gain significant added value by

combining COYO's social intranet and employee surveys with Smarp's core

competencies in employee communications and employee advocacy."

- Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images ( http://www.apimages.com) -

On COYO

COYO is the 360 degree Employee Communications Platform that strengthens

collaboration, motivation and culture in organizations. With the combination of

a social intranet and a social employee app, companies reach all employees and

actively support exchange. As a leading German provider of employee

communications software headquartered in Hamburg, COYO offers companies an

intuitive and centralized solution that makes it easy to reach all employees,

improve internal communication and promote a culture of feedback. COYO allows a

device- and location-independent communication channel - for all

company-relevant information and social exchange. From hospital operations to

passenger transport: more than one million users from companies such as Ritter

Sport, Deutsche Bahn, Asklepios and E.ON have already found their digital home

in COYO.

More information is available at www.coyoapp.com.

On Smarp

Smarp is the #1 mobile-first employee communications platform that helps

companies build strong, two-way relationships with their employees – whether

they are at their desk or on the go. The platform automatically delivers

relevant, personalized content to every employee through whichever platform,

medium or channel they prefer. It's a single solution for companies to drive

alignment, productivity and engagement through effective communications. After

being founded in 2011, Smarp has helped over 300 companies transform the way

they communicate and share content. Smarp's top 20 customers alone represent

over 4 million employees worldwide. To find out why companies like Amazon,

Marriott, L'Oreal, Pfizer, Bayer and many, many more use Smarp, visit

www.smarp.com.

Press contact

Sarah Mag

COYO GmbH  

sarah.mag@coyoapp.com  

+49 171 27 83 772

Sarah Schrodel

PIABO PR GmbH  

coyo@piabo.net  

+49 174 176 37 38  

Jenny Tallholm

Smarp

+358 46 923 5388

Source: COYO GmbH