The acquisition transforms Kallidus, which is backed by Apse Capital, a European private equity firm that specialises in investing in tech-enabled B2B companies, into a full-suite Human Capital Management (HCM) software and Digital Learning provider, offering businesses solutions across the entire employee lifecycle.
Based in San Francisco (US) and Vancouver (Canada), Sapling is a People Operations Platform that automates people workflows — from onboarding to offboarding and everything in between — by connecting people data across existing HR systems to save everyone time and help people build better companies. The company, which was founded in 2017 and employs 50 people, is growing rapidly and works with c. 200 international clients, including the likes of InVision, Digital Ocean, Coupa, Geckoboard and IOSH.
Sapling is highly complementary to Kallidus thanks to its core HR platform, specialising in employee onboarding, and shared focus on helping companies turn HR from an administrative role into a strategic function. The acquisition will help Kallidus enter the North American market as well as offer a suite of HR and Digital Learning solutions, at a time of growing demand for full HCM due to greater adoption of distributed and remote working practices; fiercer competition for talent; and increasing compliance requirements across industries.
Sapling is the second strategic acquisition made by Kallidus since Apse Capital partnered with the company in March 2019 in order to support its ambition of becoming a leading HCM software and Digital Learning provider. The company has already shown strong growth since then, with its recurring revenues having improved by 79% to £14.4 million as of December 2020. In March 2020, Kallidus bolstered its Digital Learning offering with the acquisition of Engage in Learning, a provider of high-quality, easy to use, engaging and editable eLearning. Following the acquisition of Sapling, Kallidus’ team is 200-strong, across offices in the UK, US and Canada.
Rob Caul, CEO of Kallidus, commented: “Sapling is an impressive business that represents an excellent strategic fit for Kallidus and we are delighted to welcome them to our team. Together, we can help meet the significant unmet demand for full HCM and eLearning solutions and provide international businesses with a one-stop solution for all their HR and Digital Learning needs across the entire employee lifecycle.”
Andy Crebar, CEO of Sapling, commented: “We’re excited about the teaming up with Kallidus to accelerate our mission and vision of helping People Operations and HR teams globally. By integrating with Kallidus’ existing high-quality offering and its award-winning software platform and Digital Learning content, we can take our growth to the next level. With the impact of COVID-19 accelerating demand for integrated HR software and creating new challenges for businesses around the world, we see numerous opportunities to help even more people build better companies.”
Tim Green, Managing Partner at Apse Capital, added: “Kallidus has shown impressive growth to date and Sapling, with its complementary offering, geographical footprint and ethos, will help take this growth to the next level. We look forward to continuing to help Kallidus deliver on its ambitious plans.”
Written by Caroline Hawksworth 
