Kazoo scoops up Toronto company
Kazoo Inc., an Austin-based maker of human resources software, said April 5 it purchased WorkTango Inc., a Toronto-based company making software for employee experience surveys and people analytics. Kazoo, started in 2013 as YouEarnedIt, has developed a program for employee rewards and engagement — managers can track workers’ goals and give feedback, and employees can recognize the work of their peers. The company received an undisclosed investment from Vista Equity Partners in 2018 and rebranded in 2019.
In an announcement, Kazoo said the WorkTango acquisition makes it “the only solution in the market with a full suite of employee listening, recognition and rewards, and performance management capabilities.”
Financial terms were not disclosed but the announcement said the combined company has more than 1K customers, such as Kia of North America, LogicMonitor and the Brooklyn Nets.
Core Scientific's new CFO
Austin-based bitcoin mining company Core Scientific Inc., which debuted on the Nasdaq in January following its merger with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp., has a new CFO. Denise Sterling, who had been a senior VP of finance, was appointed to the top finance role and plans to move to Austin later this year. She joined the company in 2021, and replaces former CFO Michael Trzupek, who is leaving the company for new opportunities after the transition, according to a news release. Prior to Core Scientific, Sterling was senior VP of finance at financial services company Oportun. Before that, she was a senior VP of risk management at Visa, Inc.
Along with the promotion, the company announced March was its best digital mining month, as it minted 1,143 bitcoins, which it says is the most in a month for any U.S.-based mining company. It held 8,497 bitcoins as of the end of March.
Snapping up Austin office space
Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. has reportedly signed a lease for office space in Austin, according to Costar News. We don't have many details yet beyond it has reportedly leased two floors at 405 Colorado, a space that would be capable of housing more than a hundred employees. At the moment, Snap's careers page shows 38 openings that list Austin as a possible home base. Of those, there are six engineering roles that show Austin as the only location option. The company didn't respond to my inquiries today; we'll follow up if we learn more.
