Dovetail is an Australian software company. Users create tags to perform

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, often th ...

analysis and coding interpretation of interviews, survey responses and feedback, and create summarized insights from their research analysis. In August 2021, Dovetail raised AU$5 million at a reported valuation of "more than AU$150 million"; raising its valuation fivefold from its prior

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

round in 2020. Dovetail raised further

Series A A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchan ...

funding of US$63 million, led by Accel in January 2022.

History

The company was founded in 2017 in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

by Benjamin Humphrey and Bradley Ayers. Both had worked at software company

Atlassian Atlassian Corporation () is an Australia, Australian-United States, American proprietary software company that specializes in collaboration tools designed primarily for software development and project management. Domicile (law), Domiciled in ...

, and Humphrey claims he started Dovetail based on his experience working with researchers at the company. Prior to the company's founding, Humphrey worked on the idea in his spare time, outsourcing the product's development and financing it with a AU$10,000 credit card debt. In 2017 he convinced Ayers to leave his role at Atlassian and join as co-founder. In November 2017, Dovetail was awarded the AU$25,000

minimum viable product A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development. A focus on releasing an MVP means that developers potentially avoid ...

grant from the

New South Wales Department of Industry The New South Wales Department of Industry was a former department of the New South Wales Government, from 2015 until 2019. The Department of Industry was replaced by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment in July 2019. History Th ...

''Jobs for NSW'' program. The grant was awarded to fund investment in automatic

sentiment analysis Sentiment analysis (also known as opinion mining or emotion AI) is the use of natural language processing, text analysis, computational linguistics, and biometrics to systematically identify, extract, quantify, and study affective states and subje ...

features. In February 2020, Dovetail announced a AU$4 million

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

fundraising round led by Blackbird Ventures, with participation from Felicis Ventures and Culture Amp's CEO and co-founder Didier Elzinga to accelerate revenue growth. This raise reportedly valued Dovetail at "close to AU$30 million". In August 2021, Dovetail announced that it had raised AU$5 million from existing investors Blackbird Ventures, Felicis Ventures, along with participation from

Mike Cannon-Brookes Michael Cannon-Brookes (born 17 November 1979) is an Australian businessman who is the co-founder and chief executive officer of the software company Atlassian. Since 2018, he has been involved in the Australia-Asia Power Link, a huge electri ...

' investment vehicle, Grok Ventures. In January 2022, Dovetail announced it had raised a US$63 million Series A led by Accel. New investors also included

Webflow Webflow, Inc. is an American company, based in San Francisco, that provides software as a service for website building and hosting. Their online visual editor platform allows users to design, build, and launch websites similar to Metaconex or Wix ...

CEO and co-founder Vlad Magdalin, CEO and co-founder of Checkr, Daniel Yanisse, and CEO and co-founder of Slack,

Stewart Butterfield Daniel Stewart Butterfield (born Dharma Jeremy Butterfield; March 21, 1973) is a Canadian billionaire businessman, best known for co-founding the photo-sharing website Flickr and the team-messaging application Slack. Early life and education In ...

. In 2023, Dovetail's headquarters moved to a new office spanning 4,300 square metres over four levels located on Sydney's historic

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

. In January 2024, Ayers left the company after stepping down to an engineering role in the previous year. In November 2024, Dovetail's senior company lawyer sued the company and founder Benjamin Humphrey over a "personal relationship." In February 2025, it was revealed the case was brought to the Federal Court, with the Dovetail and Mr Humphrey being sued for sexual harassment and discrimination.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Companies based in Sydney Online companies of Australia Software companies of Australia Technology companies established in 2017 QDA software Australian companies established in 2017