Mira Award win helped Encamp prove traction and woo investors
Environmental compliance software company Encamp launched just over three years ago and quickly found favor with regulatory burdened customers. In 2019, the fast-growing SaaS provider snagged TechPoint’s Startup of the Year Mira Award honoring the “Best of Tech” in Indiana. And right before the new year, Encamp announced significant growth numbers for 2021, including a 500% increase in annual recurring revenue and 200% increase in employees. This was after increasing revenue by 800% the previous year.
Growing from 20 employees at the beginning of the year and ending with 60 is a big deal for any new company, but CEO and Co-founder Luke Jacobs expects Encamp to double in size to up to 120 employees in 2022. It’s helpful that the global environmental health and safety market has been growing by at least 10% a year since Encamp launched its platform in the third quarter of 2018, and to keep up with high growth demands the company has raised $17.2 million from well-known local firms High Alpha and Allos Ventures, as well as Boston-based Open View.
“Winning the Mira Award for Startup of the Year was incredibly impactful outside validation that was promptly followed by us raising capital that was instrumental for our continued growth,” Jacobs said. “There are a lot of factors that go into a company’s success, but winning a Mira Award is a pretty big proof point that you, in fact, have some traction and it’s not just you the CEO saying it, but the judges and your community.”
Jacobs explained that Ecamp’s growth is being driven by a few different variables coming together at the right time. The company has invested in refining the sophistication of its product offerings, which has allowed it to move upmarket and increase the amount of value Encamp can deliver to customers.
“Essentially, the technology has matured in a deep and technical space, and this has allowed us to evolve from selling a point solution to now starting to sell a transformative system that really changes customers’ operations around environmental compliance,” Jacobs said. “We also have really high customer loyalty. We have almost no churn and triple-digit net revenue retention. Our customers, they like us a lot and they keep buying more.”
Nearly 200 businesses, including a growing number of businesses listed in the Fortune 1000 and Fortune 100, now use Encamp in more than 4,000 regulated facilities throughout the United States.
In April, Encamp secured $12M in funding to further develop its platform and add employees to engineering, compliance, sales, marketing, and other strategic teams. Key hires this year include Ki Moon as Vice President of Revenue Operations, Samatha Strube as Head of People, Pauline Chen as Head of Product, and the most recent appointment of industry veteran, Heather Shanahan, CPA, as Chief Financial Officer.
In the role of CFO, Shanahan will focus on strategic planning and financial reporting in order to enable the scaling of Encamp’s operations. Previously in roles at Wistia, Venture Advisors, and inStream, among others, she will bring 18 years of experience in accounting and finance to grow and scale Encamp to its fullest potential.
“Encamp created a software to help modernize the way companies think about environmental compliance, and I’m excited to use my background in finance leadership to help the company grow and scale to further solve the needs of Encamp’s customers,” said Shanahan.
In addition to significant company growth throughout 2021, the Encamp solution and leadership have received recognition for continued innovation in the industry. Such accomplishments include Jacobs’s recognition in Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2022, Environment+Energy Leader’s Top Product Award for 2021, Environment+Energy Leader’s 100 Honorees of 2021, Indiana University’s 20 Under 40, and recognition as one of the Best Places to Work in Indiana for 2021 by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Best Companies Group.
