Karl Sun, co-founder and CEO of Lucid, wants everyone to be on the same page literally and metaphorically.
His Utah-based company that facilitates teamwork through visual collaboration tools announced it had closed on over $500 million in secondary investments and increased its valuation to $3Billion. The secondary financing was also part of a group that included late-stage private investors such as Alkeon Capital and Tiger Global, Steadfast Capital Ventures, and Steadfast Capital Ventures.
The proprietary visual collaboration software of the company is used by 99 per cent of Fortune 500 companies, including Amazon, Starbucks, and T-Mobile. Sun states that the products are suitable for knowledge workers who are part of a team-building something new.
Lucid was founded in 2010 by Ben Dilts, CTO and co-founder of the company, and Karl Sun (ex-Google employee). Entrepreneurs realized that the tools and platforms used in today’s workplaces are no longer relevant to work models or processes.
Sun states that “the tools and software we use today or most people use today are in some way still rooted from the 50s and 60s.”
The days of overhead projectors or typewriters explaining complicated ideas and keeping track of information are long gone. Sun states that these technologies have been replaced by Microsoft Office Suite, which includes PowerPoint slides and word processing.
He says that information and systems are now in the cloud. Even though software technologies have been adapted and brought to the cloud, there is still room for innovation.
Sun says, “There are certain things you can’t explain in words or spreadsheets.” You need to find different ways to collaborate with your colleagues if you want to build something meaningful.
Lucidchart is an intelligent diagramming platform. Lucidspark is a virtual whiteboard that allows teams to brainstorm ideas and execute plans. The company was founded in an attempt to create the virtual infrastructure necessary for the future work model. More than 40 million people use lucid’s visual platforms.
Lucidspark is a digital whiteboard that can be customized with emojis or sticky notes. It was created in just four months and launched in October 2020 to meet the needs of pandemic victims. He says that it is similar to being in a conference, drawing, sketching, or sticking ideas up.
Since its inception, the software has been used by more than one million people. Customers such as Sonos and Jaguar Land Rover have incorporated it since then.
He says that the COVID-19 pandemic will create hybrid work environments where employees can be in the same office while others can tune in virtually. Sun states, “I believe that’s more complicated than the first two: being all-together or all distant.”
The company was founded on the principle that a picture speaks louder than a thousand words. This new investment will allow the company to improve product development and expand internationally.
Sun states, “It’s the logical next step for our company; we’re at the scale where we could be a publicly traded company, and so we are thinking hard about it.” “That’s why we brought these investors on board because they have a great track record of helping companies here.
