BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Practically Green, the leading provider of digital sustainability engagement programs, today announced that the company has closed a $3 Million Series A round of venture funding. The funding was led by CommonAngels, the Boston-based angel group focused on funding IT startups, and the clean-tech family office Pan Asia Solar, and supported by Clean Energy Venture Group and Launchpad Venture Group. The company will use the funds for product development, continued development of sustainability and CSR engagement programs, and further sales and marketing goals. As part of the announcement, Practically Green has also hired industry veterans, Mark Bissell to Head of Customer Success and Jim Tramel to Head of Sales.
Founded in 2010, Practically Green’s mobile and web platforms empower people to take positive actions at work, at home and in their community. Leading global corporations, including Unilever, MGM Resorts International, NBC Universal and eBay, are leveraging the company’s fully customizable platform to power sustainability engagement programs for their employees and other key stakeholders. Practically Green pairs expert content with proven social and game mechanics to make embracing new behaviors simpler, faster and more fun.
“Companies who are engaging people in sustainability and responsibility strategies are outperforming their peers and are setting themselves up to thrive in a changing global business climate. We are thrilled that our technology platform is supporting these initiatives and powering unique and lasting positive change at some of the largest corporations in the world,” said Susan Hunt Stevens, CEO of Practically Green. “We have spent the last year expanding our platform to meet the expanding definition of sustainability and responsibility along with the unique needs of our customers. We’re very fortunate to have CommonAngels and Pan Asia Solar, leading early-stage investors in tech and cleantech respectively, continue as our capital partners, as well as attracting new support from some of the most respected angel investors and family offices in our respective sectors.”
With Practically Green, users can join projects or competitions, complete actions of all types and levels, measure their progress and impact, and celebrate when they are successful. Practically Green’s platform provides a number of resources to help users learn about why initiatives are important and more easily hit goals, from great content and fun competitions, to recommended products and achievements. Companies can build out their own programs with actions based on their core values -- from increasing carpooling to learning to play an instrument to saving energy at work to planting a neighborhood garden to hosting a green scavenger hunt.
“At a time when the market for sustainability solutions is growing rapidly, Practically Green has built an engaging, fun and truly effective solution that also provides clients with a powerful business case for employee engagement,” said John Landry, a member of the investment committee of CommonAngels and a board member of Practically Green. “Their platform provides companies, often for the first time, with a scalable, accessible technology solution tailored to their specific goals. We continue to partner with Practically Green because of their vision to transform employee engagement initiatives and strengthen the ability of global corporations to engage their people in sustainability, responsibility and more.”
In addition to CommonAngels and Pan Asia Solar, several notable angels and family offices contributed to Practically Green’s Series A funding round including Launchpad Venture Group and Clean Energy Venture Group. Practically Green’s investors bring valuable connections and experience that will benefit the company.
“Practically Green is empowering companies of all kinds to benefit from, quantify and actually report on the true value of their employee engagement,” said Anton Szpitalak, president, Pan Asia Solar. “Their fantastic team continues to impress and inspire us with their robust technology, interesting and insightful content, and the use of proven social practices to spur meaningful behavior change.”
As part of the announcement, Practically Green has also named Mark Bissell Head of Customer Success. Mark brings substantial experience in the enterprise SaaS industry, having joined SuccessFactors as one of the first employees and been an executive with the company through IPO and acquisition by SAP. Practically Green has tapped Mark to oversee all client accounts and drive strategies for user growth. Practically Green has also hired Jim Tramel as Head of Sales, formerly of Virtue (acquired by Oracle), as well as Facebook and Paypal. Jim will focus on developing the company’s sales channels to meet growing customer and partner needs.
Companies interested in learning more about Practically Green can visit www.practicallygreen.com.
About Practically Green
Practically Green is the leading technology provider of sustainability engagement programs to global companies. A pioneer in persuasive technology, Practically Green’s innovative use of social and game mechanics to inspire employees and customers to make real-life, measurable changes has led to awards from Wired, MITX, and Fortune Brainstorm Green. The company is based in Boston.
About CommonAngels
CommonAngels is an angel fund investing in early-stage information technology companies predominantly in the Boston-area. The investors of CommonAngels are leaders in the technology community who lend their knowledge and experience to the portfolio companies and support their growth. The Fund’s investments and returns are driven by a collective commitment to identifying high-potential investment opportunities and exceptional entrepreneurs and investing in seed and Series A stage companies. Since its founding in 1998, CommonAngels has invested in over 60 companies and worked with countless startup teams. We are currently investing out of CommonAngels Ventures Fund IV.
About Pan Asia Solar
Pan Asia Solar is the alternative-energy investment arm of a global multi-family office. Pan Asia Solar's professionals have extensive experience in both the technical and commercial aspects of the cleantech industry and hold a portfolio broad both in geography and segment. Investments and resources are focused on a small number of companies with the potential to develop a position of exceptional value in their core focus area.
