What do Canva, Etsy, McDonalds, the NBA, Oracle and Tiffany & Co. have in common?
They are among the 6,500-plus companies that use Culture Amp’s market-leading employee experience platform to engage with, manage and develop their teams.
Culture Amp is one of Australia’s biggest tech success stories. International sales make up around 80% of its business. Its innovation has attracted US$258 million in venture capital since 2015 and it is now valued at US$1.5 billion. Fast Company included Culture Amp in its list of World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023.
The company is gearing up for more wins, opening an office in Berlin, Europe’s tech hub, to better serve customers in the EMEA region. It’s already won new customers and strengthened relationships with existing ones. Austrade’s advice and introductions made market entry easier.
‘There is a fantastic amount of dedicated support provided by Austrade to ensure we’re set up for success,’ says Nick Matthews, Culture Amp’s Vice President and General Manager, EMEA. ‘They partner in any questions or challenges that arise. We were lucky to have a lot of resources in-house, but Austrade was always there when we needed more advice.’
Culture Amp’s award-winning platform uses psychology and data science to help organisations transform employee engagement, develop high-performing teams, and retain talent.
‘From the start, we based our product on industry and organisational psychology and research behind how people like to work,’ says Matthews. ‘This science-backed approach is blended with business insights collected from top-performing companies to create benchmarks.’
The Culture Amp team works with customers to develop survey questions, collect data and analyse feedback. These insights are turned into strategies that enhance employee engagement, ensure continuous performance and build stronger, more connected workplaces.
Culture Amp has been exporting almost from day one: one of its first customers was an international company. Today Culture Amp’s platform is available in more than 40 countries and 45 languages, thanks in part to multinational customers rolling out the platform across their business.
Culture Amp has offices in Chicago, London, New York and San Francisco to support its biggest markets. In April 2022, the company opened its first European office in Berlin. The opening came after it raised US$100 million in Series F funding in 2021 to increase its presence in the EMEA region.
The region accounts for a quarter of Culture Amp’s global business, with over 1,500 customers. The Berlin office will allow the company to better support European customers and organisations across the region.
‘Berlin felt like the obvious choice for us because the city is a European tech hub. Many of our peers and customers are here,’ says Matthews. ‘Germany is also the biggest European economy. It also made sense for us to have a European hub after Brexit.
‘Our offering really resonates with our German customers,’ adds Matthews. ‘Germany was one of our fastest-growing markets globally even before we put people on the ground. Members of our UK team were travelling back and forth, so an office also made sense from a wellbeing perspective.’
Culture Amp is reaping the rewards of a physical presence in Europe’s tech hub.
‘We’ve added hundreds of customers since opening our Berlin office,’ says Matthews. ‘We’ve also retained customers by being in-market and building stronger relationships. The other benefit is working with locals – the ones who know the market best. Being here has reinforced our presence and our commitment to the EMEA region.’
Austrade has been supporting Culture Amp since early 2021 when it provided insights for the company’s EU market entry strategy.
‘Austrade introduced us to other Australian companies and CEOs in Germany,’ says Matthews. ‘This is always helpful to learn what successful companies are doing in the region. They also supported us with information for our legal and financial proceedings.
‘Austrade also put us in touch with German contacts so we could discuss topics like data privacy or security where local knowledge was extremely helpful. Austrade were forthcoming in trying to help us grow, and extremely helpful in whatever we needed, like providing resources and contacts.’
Companies looking to successfully sell into the German market need to demonstrate the sustainability of their business model. This includes a clear articulation of their unique selling proposition and a track record of success in Australia and abroad.
‘Successful companies tend to focus on product development and client acquisition, and introduce solutions that can be adopted across multiple industries,’ says Dr Michael Henderson, Austrade Senior Business Development Manager in Frankfurt. ‘Germany’s leading role in the European economy also makes it an ideal springboard into wider Europe.’
Matthews believes demand for Culture Amp’s platform will continue to grow in EMEA and globally.
‘There’s a massive market in Europe that we’re just starting to tap into,’ he says. ‘We’ve got a lot of customer demand there. European companies have a mature, sophisticated view of their workforce and are progressive in the way they approach employee engagement.
‘The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way the world works. We want to explore the insights from the new way of working and share them with our customers.’
Austrade’s Go Global Toolkit helps you learn the export basics, find the right markets and understand market requirements.