15Five Acquires Kona, The AI-Powered Manager Effectiveness Coach For Remote Managers

Acquisition will allow HR leaders to extend AI-powered manager effectiveness programs from 15Five into native workflows such as Slack, Zoom and Google Meet

Strengthens 15Five’s position as the market-leading platform for pinpointing and resolving the manager skill gaps with the greatest business impact

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--15Five, the performance management platform that drives action and impact for thousands of organizations, announced today it has acquired Kona, the AI-powered assistant and coach for remote managers.

Virtual work continues to accelerate, with virtual meetings up 60% since 2020, according to Harvard Business Review, making it even harder for HR teams to diagnose and resolve the manager skill gaps in their organization that matter most. Founded in 2019, Kona joins virtual meetings in platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet, providing tailored, privacy-conscious coaching and enablement to remote managers in the flow of work. Trusted by the likes of Amplitude and Cribl, AI-powered Kona uses the context it builds over time to help people managers continuously level up across a wide range of critical skillsets - from leading more effective meetings to navigating difficult performance conversations.

The acquisition of Kona will soon allow 15Five customers to deploy manager enablement at scale and drive high-impact behaviors effortlessly, within the existing flow of work. It expands 15Five’s impact beyond their existing platform––solving costly performance, engagement, and retention issues in partnership with people managers.

“People managers are the critical lynchpin for maximum employee performance, engagement and retention,” said Jim Morrisroe, 15Five CEO. “The team at Kona has built a leading-edge product that allows organizations to tap into the power of their managers at scale, with surgical precision, in virtual communications channels where leaders are increasingly honing their craft. We’re thrilled to join forces with Kona and help HR teams further unlock the impact of manager effectiveness.”

"Empowering managers is the cornerstone of helping HR build successful teams and businesses, and we’ve long admired 15Five’s work in doing exactly that,” said Sid Pandiya, Kona CEO. “Together we’ll raise the bar for what AI-powered manager enablement can deliver. We’re incredibly eager to begin this new chapter in Kona’s story.”

To learn more about 15Five’s vision for how HR can enlist people managers as a critical catalyst for higher engagement, retention and performance, visit www.15Five.com.

About 15Five

15Five is the performance management platform that drives action and impact for thousands of HR teams and their companies. HR leaders are empowered to diagnose and address specific strategic issues with easy-to-use analytics and insights on employee performance, engagement, retention, and demographic segments. People managers are transformed into changemakers alongside HR with tailored action plans and dynamic manager enablement that lives within the flow of work. 15Five combines the power of predictive AI, generative AI, and analytics into a complete platform that includes 360° performance reviews, actionable engagement surveys, action planning, robust goal & OKR tracking, customizable manager coaching and training, and ongoing manager-employee feedback tools like guided 1-on-1s. Learn more at www.15five.com.

About Kona

Kona’s mission is to make every manager the best leader they can be, without breaking their workflow. Our AI-powered co-pilot brings together company best practices, meeting insights, and performance review data to save managers time and enable precision coaching that drives team performance. From running a great 1:1 to writing high-quality reviews in half the time, Kona is transforming manager enablement. For more information, follow Kona on Twitter and LinkedIn, and visit heykona.com.

Contacts

Media Contact
Megan Lampros
megan.lampros@15five.com