AskNicely

Based in Portland, Oregon, AskNicely provides a business-to-business customer experience and Net Promoter Score software platform designed to capture real-time feedback and deliver personalized coaching directly to frontline workers. The company operates a software-as-a-service business model serving over 1,300 service-oriented brands globally across various sectors, including retail, hospitality, property management, home services, and healthcare. Its enterprise client portfolio features several recognizable service organizations utilizing mobile-first technology, such as Anytime Fitness and FirstService Residential. AskNicely has raised approximately $50 million in total venture capital funding, which includes a $32 million Series B round in January 2022 led by Five Elms Capital with participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Blackbird Ventures. The enterprise software company was originally established in Auckland, New Zealand, before relocating its headquarters to the United States, and was founded in 2014 by Aaron Ward and John Ballinger.

High-Level Overview

AskNicely is a customer experience (CX) software platform that helps service-based and people-powered businesses capture real-time feedback via tools like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and CSAT surveys, delivering actionable insights, coaching, recognition, and motivation directly to frontline employees through mobile apps.[1][2][9] It serves frontline-heavy industries such as field services, support teams, and retail, solving the challenge of inconsistent customer interactions by empowering staff with instant feedback to improve performance, boost retention, and drive revenue growth.[1][3][7] The platform's growth momentum includes rapid adoption of its NiceAI generative AI feature—46% of eligible customers in the first month post-launch—along with $47 million in total funding, expansion to over 1,300 customers across North America, Australia, and Europe, and a #1 G2Crowd rating.[2][3][6]

Origin Story

Founded in 2014 in New Zealand by Aaron Ward (co-founder and former CEO), AskNicely emerged from a focus on SaaS tools for human-reliant businesses, initially developing customer experience management software that integrates NPS, workflows, recognition, feedback, coaching, and insights for frontline workers.[2][3] The leadership team, including Kirsten Newbold-Knipp (CEO), Paul Shingles (Chief Product Officer), Kassidy Bird (VP of Marketing), and Reagan Nickl (VP of Customer Success), brought expertise in CX, product, marketing, and success to emphasize frontline enablement.[1] A pivotal moment came during the global pandemic: many service customers shut down, prompting the team to double down on product and marketing investments rather than pivot, which fueled recovery and attracted a $32 million funding round in 2022, bringing total capital to $47 million and enabling headcount growth from 60 to planned doubling.[3][6]

Core Differentiators

• Real-time, frontline-focused delivery: Unlike traditional survey tools, AskNicely acts as a "CX coach in your pocket," pushing instant feedback, personalized coaching, and recognition to employees' mobile devices for immediate improvement, fostering a culture of excellence.[1][7]
• NiceAI generative AI integration: Built on AWS Amazon Bedrock, it analyzes free-text responses to generate deeper insights, custom surveys, automated summaries, and moderated feedback, tripling insights per survey and enabling targeted actions.[2]
• Automation and integrations: Features one-touch mobile surveys, CRM/Helpdesk/Slack integrations, auto-responses based on NPS scores, reputation management (e.g., auto-requesting Google/Yelp reviews), and alerts/reports for continuous improvement.[5][6]
• Employee activation and ecosystem: Combines feedback analytics with recognition tools, employee motivation, and community-driven content like testimonials, earning #1 on G2Crowd and Great Place to Work certification for its experience-first culture.[1][8]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

AskNicely rides the trend of frontline worker empowerment in a post-pandemic economy, where service businesses recognize these employees' outsized impact on revenue and retention amid labor shortages and rising CX expectations.[3] Its timing aligns with generative AI's maturation—launching NiceAI on AWS to unlock unstructured feedback data—capitalizing on market forces like AI-driven personalization and real-time analytics in CX platforms.[2] By focusing on underserved shift workers ignored by prior tech, AskNicely influences the ecosystem through higher employee engagement (e.g., lifting low performers in field services) and business outcomes like profitability and NPS gains, setting a standard for employee-centric CX software.[3][7][8]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

AskNicely is poised to dominate next-gen CX for service businesses, expanding NiceAI capabilities and integrations to handle surging demand for AI-powered frontline tools amid workforce digitization.[2][6] Trends like AI moderation of feedback, deeper CRM ecosystems, and hybrid work will shape its path, potentially scaling to thousands more customers as economic recovery boosts service sectors. Its influence may evolve from niche leader to ecosystem enabler, empowering frontline teams to sustain the consistent, high-quality interactions that define competitive service today.[1][9]