About Workshop
Workshop is an email-first internal communications platform for communications, HR and other workplace teams. It combines email, SMS, pages, analytics, automation and integrations with Teams, Slack and SharePoint.
The Omaha company says it has 140 employees and more than 800 customers. Its named customers include HarperCollins, ServiceNow, Steve Madden, Madison Square Garden, FastMed and Papa John's. Rick Knudtson is co-founder and chief executive officer.
Funding Rounds (SEC Form D)
| First sale | Filed with SEC | Amount sold | Investors | Avg. check | Terms | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 | $6,974,991of $7.5M target | 7 | $996K | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Mar 14, 2025 | Mar 18, 2025 | $6,999,989of $7.0M target | 6 | $1.1M | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Oct 27, 2023 | Oct 30, 2023 | $12,000,000fully sold | 11 | $1.0M | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Jul 18, 2022 | Jul 25, 2022 | $5,165,998fully sold | 17 | $303K | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Mar 22, 2021 | Mar 24, 2021 | $2,035,000of $3.0M target | 7 | $290K | Equity, DebtRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Total, five offerings | $33,175,978 | |||||
First sale is the date the first investor in the offering committed to invest. Companies must file Form D within 15 days of that date, so filing dates run later.
What the SEC Filings Show
- Series A began taking money on October 27, 2023, 20 days before the announcement. The Form D filed on October 30, 2023 shows $12.0 million sold, the full offering, from 11 investors, or about $1.1 million each. [13]
- Seed began taking money on July 18, 2022, 3 days before the announcement. The Form D filed on July 25, 2022 shows $5.2 million sold, the full offering, from 17 investors, or about $303.9 thousand each. [14]
- Bj Hansen first appears as a director on the Form D that Workshop filed on July 25, 2022. [14]Form D filings that name Bj Hansen (6):
- Workshop, executive officer and director: Jul 25, 2022 · Oct 30, 2023 · Oct 23, 2026
- Skykit, director: Dec 15, 2022 (amended)
- Petfriendly, director: Dec 22, 2022
- zLinq, director: Jul 11, 2024
- Pre-seed began taking money on March 22, 2021, 14 days before the announcement. The Form D filed on March 24, 2021 shows $2.0 million sold of a $3.0 million offering, from 7 investors, or about $290.7 thousand each. [15]
Who Invested in Workshop
Scroll table to see all columns →
| Announced | Round | Amount | Lead | Other investors | On the Form D | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 16, 2023 | Series A | $12M | McCarthy Capital (now M-One Capital) | Ludlow Ventures and M25 | First sale Oct 27, 2023; $12,000,000 of $12,000,000 from 11 investors. [13] | [7][11] |
| Jul 21, 2022 | Seed | $5.2M | McCarthy Capital (now M-One Capital) | Coelius Capital, All Access Fund, Invest Nebraska and M25 | First sale Jul 18, 2022; $5,165,998 of $5,165,998 from 17 investors. [14] | [6] |
| Apr 5, 2021 | Pre-seed | $3.5M | — | Ludlow Ventures, M25, Linseed Capital and angel investors | First sale Mar 22, 2021; $2,035,000 of $3,025,000 from 7 investors. [15] | [5] |
Announced amounts can differ from Form D figures: an announcement can combine several closings, and some money is raised without a Form D.
Why Investors Backed Workshop
Internal communications teams often relied on separate tools, while distributed companies struggled to align employees and deliver relevant content. McCarthy Capital, now M-One Capital, saw hybrid work as making employee communication more important. The firm backed Workshop's experienced team to address those problems. [2][6][11]
Origin and Team
Rick Knudtson, Ben Stevinson and Derek Homann came together to build Workshop in 2020. Before Workshop, Knudtson co-founded Flywheel, which WP Engine acquired in 2019. He helped grow Flywheel to 250 global employees and more than 30,000 customers. [6][3]
Homann had co-founded Median, software that let support agents browse with customers. Median was acquired in 2020. [3]
Product and Technology
Cici turns a prompt into a branded email with layout, text and images. Teams can personalize messages by role, location or department. Analytics provide individual tracking, shareable reports and AI summaries. Automation can run recurring employee messages. SMS can reach frontline employees who lack work email. [1]
AI Studio lets teams schedule custom agents for repeated work. The agents gather source material, draft communications and alert a person when work is ready. SharePoint was the first source connection, with OneDrive and Teams planned next. A secure server connection, called the Workshop MCP server, lets ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot use Workshop context and take permitted actions. Agents can open only files available to the logged-in user. Administrators can limit approved connections, web search and company context. AI Studio includes unlimited AI credits. [8]
Automatic Lists pulls employee contacts from email, human-resources and payroll systems. It keeps distribution lists current without IT help. Named email sources were Outlook and Google. Human-resources sources included UKG and Workday; payroll sources included Gusto and ADP. [6]
Use of Funds
- Workshop planned to spend Series A proceeds on internal-email product development and additional engineering hires. [11]
- Series A plans also covered expanded sales and marketing and more customer-success support. [11]
- Workshop planned to use 2022 seed proceeds for product work and hiring, especially engineering and sales roles. [6]
Milestones
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| Date | What happened | Source | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 23, 2026 | Workshop began rolling out AI Studio to existing customers at BrightSide in Omaha. The add-on was available with every plan. | [8] | — |
| Aug 11, 2026 | Workshop ranked No. 1 in Nebraska, No. 25 among U.S. software companies and No. 272 overall on the Inc. 5000. | [9] | — |
| Nov 16, 2023 | Workshop launched a communications calendar that puts sent and scheduled emails in one view. | [11] | PR Newswire ↗ |
| Nov 16, 2023 | Workshop had gained hundreds of customers during the prior year and delivered emails to well over one million employees. | [11] | PR Newswire ↑ |
| Jul 21, 2022 | Workshop launched Automatic Lists for automatically updated employee distribution lists. Customers could build them without IT support. | [6] | — |
| Jul 21, 2022 | Its customers sent communications to more than 50,000 employees each month. Lime and Home Chef were among them. | [6] | — |
| Apr 5, 2021 | Workshop officially launched with Updates and Company Hub. Updates handled targeted messages and reader feedback, while Company Hub centralized resources, an employee directory and search. | [5] | — |
Market
Workshop's 2026 Internal Comms Trends Report found that 68% of communicators ranked automating repetitive work as their top priority. Nearly half used AI tools daily to create content. [9]
We wrote this summary from public statements by Workshop and its investors. It is not investment advice.
Leadership Team
Executive officers and directors listed on Workshop's Form D filed Oct 23, 2026.
Sources
- CompanyWorkshop platform, Cici, personalization and analytics · linked above ↑
- CompanyWorkshop about page and internal communications problem
- CompanyWorkshop press fact sheet and founder histories
- CompanyWorkshop Software master service agreement and Omaha address
- CompanyWorkshop public launch and 2021 financing announcement
- InvestorM-One Capital, formerly McCarthy Capital, 2022 seed announcement
- Press releaseWorkshop Series A announcement on PR Newswire · linked above ↑
- CompanyWorkshop AI Studio launch
- CompanyWorkshop Inc. 5000 announcement and survey findings
- SECWorkshop Form D, filed 2026-10-23 · linked above ↑
- CompanyWorkshop company-hosted Series A and calendar announcement
- SECWorkshop Form D, filed 2025-03-18 · linked above ↑
- SECWorkshop Form D, filed 2023-10-30 · linked above ↑
- SECWorkshop Form D, filed 2022-07-25 · linked above ↑
- SECWorkshop Form D, filed 2021-03-24 · linked above ↑
- SECWORKSHOP SOFTWARE, INC. filing history