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Herbert Smith Freehills’ private equity and venture capital team has advised Pyn on its Series Seed-1 capital raise. 

This follows Pyn’s first Series Seed capital raise in July 2020, of which Herbert Smith Freehills also advised.

Pyn is an Australian technology company focused on providing businesses with online internal employee communications platforms. The round was led by global venture capital firm Andreesen Horowirz.

Pyn is an employee communications platform for distributed organisations. With COVID-19 driving remote work, Pyn helps companies reach their employees when they need clarity or support. Pyn is led by Jon Williams, a former co-founder of Culture Amp, and Joris Luijke, the former People Chief at Atlassian and Squarespace. Both founders bring a people and culture focus to the business, and have developed a learning and communications platform that provides helpful, tailored content to managers and employees when they need it.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partner and Head of Venture Capital Peter Dunne, and solicitor Catie Moore.

Catie said, “This transaction is an important milestone for Pyn that will enable the company to build on its success with the scale and experience of Andreesen Horowitz. We always enjoy working with Joris and Jon, and look forward to the development of the Pyn business over the next few years.”

Joris Luijke said, “Companies are looking to the post-COVID future. For most, that involves a model that combines remote work and office time. We talked to hundreds of business leaders these past months and it’s clear that hybrid work isn’t without its challenges. People are feeling overwhelmed by the volume of corporate communications, and the uncertainties of working remotely. Pyn tackles such problems with an appreciation for people’s personal circumstances - where, how, and when they work best. We’re humbled by our amazing customers like Shopify, Rubrik, Carta who joined us on this journey early.”

This deal is another example of Herbert Smith Freehills’ market-leading work in the Australian technology sector and Australian venture capital. Other recent examples include advising:

  • SafetyCulture on its  A$99 million Series C2 capital raise and secondary sale;
  • Culture Amp on its USD$82 million Series E capital raise;
  • Limepay’s $21 million pre-IPO capital raising;
  • the investment by Grok Ventures in Brighte’s A$100 million Series C capital raise; and
  • capital raises for Campaign Monitor, Safety Culture, Tyro Payments, Different, Elanation, Style Arcade, Shore Trade, Social Garden, Cognitive Platforms, Buckitdream and others.

Key contacts

Peter Dunne photo

Peter Dunne

Co-Head of Venture Capital, Sydney

Peter Dunne

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Emily Coultas

External Communications Manager

Melbourne