COYO

About COYO

COYO GmbH, established in 2010 in Hamburg, Germany, developed a significant presence in the employee communications software market before its evolution into Haiilo. The company was founded by Jan Marius Marquardt, who, inspired by his early experiences with user-unfriendly business software at SAP, sought to create more user-centric solutions. Marquardt, alongside Daniel Busch, initially started a consultancy named mindsmash, which eventually pivoted to develop the COYO software, officially launching the product in 2012.

The firm operated on a bootstrapped model for its first several years, growing profitably before securing its first external financing in 2019 and a majority stake investment from Marlin Equity Partners in late 2020. This investment was aimed at accelerating international expansion and product development. A pivotal moment in the company's trajectory occurred in September 2021, when COYO merged with Smarp, a Finnish employee communications and advocacy platform. This transaction, led by Marlin Equity Partners, aimed to create one of the five largest global providers in the employee engagement sector by combining COYO's social intranet with Smarp's communication tools. In 2022, the merged entity, along with the newly acquired French employee engagement platform Jubiwee, rebranded as Haiilo, unifying the three brands under a single name to offer a comprehensive employee experience suite.

COYO's core business centered on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, providing a B2B platform that functions as a "digital home" for employees. The product combined a social intranet, an employee app, and collaboration tools to enhance internal communication and information flow for medium and large businesses. It was designed to be accessible for all employees, including desk-based and non-desk workers, via desktop and mobile applications. Key features included multi-channel communication capabilities, employee surveys, and a marketplace for integrations, including with Microsoft Office 365. The platform's revenue was generated through subscription fees, offering both cloud and on-premise deployment options to clients like Deutsche Bahn, E. ON, and Salesforce.