London-headquartered startup Deployed that aims to address the challenges faced by organisations when it comes to contractually scoped projects has scored $4M in a seed funding round co-led by Amrock Ventures and US-based M12, Microsoft’s fund that also backed Inworld AI and iLoF recently. Further, the round saw participation from Portfolio Ventures, Mayfield Fund, HERmesa, and Angel Academe.
Led by female founders Emma Rees and Kayleigh Kuptz, Deployed is focused on redefining the process of creating Statements of Work (SOWs) and planning projects. SOWs are vital documents that outline the objectives, scope of work, deliverables, timelines, and other crucial details of a project or engagement between a client and a service provider. By emphasising the importance of clear and comprehensive agreements, Deployed ensures that both parties have a solid understanding of the work to be executed, aiming to mitigate risks and enhance project success.
With a staggering 65% of such projects failing to meet their original objectives and 1 in 10 ending up in legal or payment disputes, Deployed steps in to make a difference and use its latest round of funding to continue feature development, apply assisted writing and generative AI, and expand new and existing enterprise clients and boost hires.
Launched in 2020 by Emma Rees, Kayleigh Kuptz and Jamie Gannaway, Deployed is carving out a distinct category in the realm of Scope Authoring for service contracts. While companies like Docusign excel in signature management, Ironclad specialises in contract management, Monday.com focuses on project management, and Vndly addresses vendor management, Deployed claims to stand as an innovative player within this broader ecosystem.
Emma Rees, CEO and co-founder of Deployed, said: “It’s empowering to be part of the “2% of the 2%” (only 2% of VC investment goes to majority female founders and of that, less than 2% is in Enterprise SaaS). With most corporate work now globally distributed, project based and delivered by third parties, we need a new way to engage for services. We started Deployed to help everyone define work better and align on clear objectives early on”.
Hugo Chardon, co-Founder of Amrock Ventures, said: “I was taken from the very first pitch that this was solving a problem that has been slipping through the gaps of corporate governance. It was very clear that the founding team, Emma, Kayleigh, and Jamie, were a winning one, bringing deep expertise and a balanced mindset.”
“Deployed is a category defining startup that reimagines the Enterprise Resource Planning stack to stop project failure from the start. We are delighted to support the Deployed team and follow on with funding,” said Peter Berg, Managing Partner at M12.
James Pringle, VC at Portfolio Ventures says “Our investment in Deployed was based on their strong product-market fit, notable growth trajectory, and their focus on addressing an underserved market segment.”
Simplifies writing, editing, and publishing Statements of Work
In simple terms, Deployed provides a platform that brings together different teams involved in the process of requesting and procuring services. This includes requestors of services, procurement teams, legal teams, and compliance teams. The platform offers an easy-to-use editor interface where these teams can collaborate and navigate through the workflow from the initial request to the final signature. It streamlines the process, making it more efficient and convenient for all parties involved.
Clients leveraging the Deployed platform are experiencing significant advantages by digitising their workflows, which were previously reliant on Word documents and email exchanges. Through this transformation, clients have reported a remarkable 20% reduction in costs, achieved a 5x faster time to sign, and witnessed a 10x increase in project success rates. These improvements can be attributed to the platform’s ability to more accurately scope work on every statement of work, offering clients enhanced efficiency and productivity throughout their project lifecycles.
Deployed currently serves a roster of prominent enterprise clients, such as Randstad Sourceright, Talent Solutions TAPFIN, and Roche. Additionally, in recognition of its accomplishments in the field of enterprise technology, Deployed was honored with the global Melinda Gates Female Founders award for the year 2020.
