Columbus Startup Aware Raises $60M Series C Round led by Goldman Sachs

It’s time we’re all aware of this Columbus startup.

Aware, which helps companies collaborate by making sense of human behavioral data, has raised a $60 million Series C round led by the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, less than a year after raising $12 million in its Series B.

With demand surging due to the WFH movement, Aware said the C round will help scale its “AI-driven, human-centric” SaaS solutions for collaboration governance and data insights. Its software helps enterprises overcome common legal and compliance barriers to collaboration adoption, address growing data risks and insider threat concerns, and empower employees by creating better workplaces.

Investors participating in the round include Spring Mountain Capital, Blue Heron Capital, Allos Ventures, Ohio Innovation Fund, JobsOhio, Rev1 Ventures, Draper Triangle Ventures, and JumpStart. 

“Aware continues to be the leading force for digital collaboration insights, giving companies a better understanding of their workforce and the ability to manage the risks associated with digital conversations and remote collaboration,” said Jeff Schumann, CEO and Co-Founder of Aware. “Aware’s continued adoption as essential tech further shows how AI solutions are key to building more transformational businesses.”

Aware serves organizations deploying the most recognizable collaboration and messaging platforms that have become a part of our daily lives during the pandemic: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Yammer, Workplace from Facebook, and more. These modern messaging and collaboration tools, Aware says, weren’t designed to handle the operational, data governance complexities of modern businesses. 

Aware is trusted by industry-diverse customers including AIG, AstraZeneca, BT Group, Memorial Health, MercadoLibre, Rivian, Sunlife Financial, and Wipro.

The capital raise follows a $12 million Series B equity investment in December 2020. It marks the first investment in Ohio by Goldman Sachs’ venture arm, reports Columbus Business First.

“At Goldman Sachs, we believe in the transformative power of technology and see potential in Aware’s ability to connect fragmented data that exists within organizations across many sectors,” said David Campbell, Managing Director in the Growth Equity business. “The Aware team addresses information management, data protection and organizational insights at scale through their feature-rich platform that can satisfy the most demanding global enterprises, yet is simple enough to serve the mid-market.”

Aware has more than 60 employees and is quickly growing. All puns aside, this is a top startup to watch in Columbus.