Blueboard
Blueboard is a San Francisco-based B2B SaaS platform, founded in 2014, that provides experiential (experience-based) employee rewards and recognition programs to corporate HR and people operations teams in the modern workplace.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Blueboard does
Blueboard is an experiential rewards and recognition platform serving the modern workplace, founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco. The company operates in the employee engagement and recognition software category, differentiated by its focus on experience-based rewards (travel, events, adventures, dining) rather than merchandise, gift cards, or cash — a positioning that targets HR, people operations, and employee experience teams seeking higher-impact recognition programs. The platform combines SaaS technology with a curated experiential merchant network, monetizing via per-employee subscription pricing plus the cost of experience fulfillment.
The company has scaled to 101-250 employees and built dedicated customer success capacity, consistent with mid-stage SaaS operating maturity. Kevin Yip serves as president and co-founder, and Jonathan Alarcon leads customer success. Blueboard has raised approximately $15.8M across three disclosed funding rounds: a 2015 Series 1 led by Moatable ($2M), a 2018 round led by Bullpen Capital ($4.5M), and a 2020 Series 2 led by Origin Ventures ($9.3M) with participation from Greycroft, 500 Global, Plug and Play, Gaingels, Bossa Invest, and UpVentures Capital. No follow-on funding round has been disclosed since September 2020.
The input data contains no details on product architecture, integrations, pricing, customer logos, geographic footprint, or AI/ML capabilities. Notably, the blueboard.com domain currently resolves to a GoDaddy parking page, which is flagged as a data quality concern but should not be interpreted as evidence of operational inactivity given the company's documented headcount and continued corporate existence.
Blueboard firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Blueboard
- Website
- https://blueboard.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Blueboard is a San Francisco-based B2B SaaS platform, founded in 2014, that provides experiential (experience-based) employee rewards and recognition programs to corporate HR and people operations teams in the modern workplace.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Blueboard industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Employee Recognition and Rewards Software
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Subscription Boxes & Curated Product Subscriptions (CRAFAIAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Event Theming, Mood Boards & Concept Design (HSACAOAH)
Keywords
Where Blueboard is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Blueboard business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Blueboard product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Blueboard is an experiential rewards and recognition platform for the modern workplace. The company enables organizations to provide curated experiential rewards (such as trips, activities, and personalized gifts) to employees as a means of recognition, motivation, and engagement. The offering is delivered as a software platform that businesses deploy to run employee milestone, service anniversary, and performance recognition programs.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Experiential Rewards and Recognition Platform Software platform that enables companies to deliver curated experiential rewards (such as travel, adventures, dining, and personalized gifts) to employees for recognition milestones, service anniversaries, sales achievements, and other workplace performance events. Targeted at organizations seeking to drive employee engagement and retention through meaningful, non-monetary recognition.
Companies that use Blueboard
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Blueboard technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Blueboard partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Blueboard competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Motivosity: Employee engagement and recognition platform that bundles peer recognition with experiential rewards, manager coaching and engagement surveys; competes head-to-head with Blueboard for HR budgets in the SMB and mid-market.
- Kudos: Employee recognition and culture platform with peer-to-peer and milestone recognition including experiential rewards; a like-sized direct competitor to Blueboard in the mid-market segment.
- Bonusly: Peer-to-peer recognition platform offering points-based rewards redeemable for gifts, donations and experiences; competes with Blueboard for the same HR/people-ops buyer and overlaps on the experiential redemption catalog.
- Awardco: Employee recognition and rewards platform with a strong catalog of experiences, merchandise and custom rewards; most directly comparable to Blueboard in product shape and customer base (mid-market and enterprise).
Emerging players
- Bucketlist: Recognition and rewards platform whose core differentiator is a curated experiential rewards catalog (Bucketlist Experiences), making it a near-direct experiential-only competitor to Blueboard.
- HeyTaco: Lightweight peer recognition platform with rewards redeemable for gift cards and tacos; smaller and more SMB-focused than Blueboard but a comparable peer-to-peer recognition alternative.
- Tinypulse (now Heartcount): Employee engagement and pulse-survey platform that has layered in recognition and rewards; competes with Blueboard for HR-tech budget although primary wedge is engagement analytics rather than experiential rewards.
- Recognize: Employee recognition platform built on Microsoft 365 / Teams with social recognition and milestone rewards; an emerging competitor in the recognition category with comparable mid-market positioning.
Broad incumbents
- Culture Amp: Broader employee engagement platform that includes recognition as one module within its suite; competes for the same HR/people-ops wallet even if recognition is not its core wedge.
- Workhuman: Largest pure-play employee recognition platform with a Social Recognition cloud that includes experiential and milestone rewards; comparable to Blueboard on the recognition + experiential angle but materially larger and broader in scope.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses3 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Blueboard social profiles
Digital presenceBlueboard financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Blueboard leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Blueboard funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors12 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Blueboard M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Blueboard
What does Blueboard do?
Blueboard is an experiential rewards and recognition platform for the modern workplace. The company enables organizations to provide curated experiential rewards (such as trips, activities, and personalized gifts) to employees as a means of recognition, motivation, and engagement. The offering is delivered as a software platform that businesses deploy to run employee milestone, service anniversary, and performance recognition programs.
Is Blueboard a public or private company?
Blueboard is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed.
When was Blueboard founded?
Blueboard was founded in 2014. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Blueboard based?
Blueboard is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Blueboard's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Motivosity, Kudos, Bonusly and Awardco. Emerging players are Bucketlist, HeyTaco, Tinypulse (now Heartcount) and Recognize. Broad incumbents are Culture Amp and Workhuman.
Does Blueboard have an API?
No public API is recorded for Blueboard.
What industry is Blueboard in?
Blueboard's product category is Employee Recognition and Rewards Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAFAIAF, Subscription Boxes & Curated Product Subscriptions, with a secondary code of HSACAOAH, Event Theming, Mood Boards & Concept Design. Its NAICS code is 56192 and its SIC code is 7900.