ActivTrak
 | |
| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Herb Axilrod, Anton Seidler |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Heidi Farris, CEO[1] |
| Services | SaaS, workforce analytics software |
| Website | www |
ActivTrak is an American company that produces employee monitoring software used for workforce analytics on employee and company productivity.[2] The company was founded in 2009 by Birch Grove Software and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
By 2020, the company had raised US$77.5 million in funding[3] and was backed by Sapphire Ventures and Elsewhere Partners. In 2026, ActivTrak stated that more than 9,500 corporations were using their product to passively monitor more than 1 million workers.[4]
History
[edit]Birch Grove Software was established in 1995,[5] and its products were Screen Pass (a Windows screen saver that administrators could unlock)[6] and a utility software named Link-Launch.[7] In about February 2009, they launched CapTrak, an employee monitoring system[8] which was renamed ActivTrak a few month later[9] and they founded a company with the same name.[10][11] At first, ActivTrak was a LAN-based product for monitoring employee productivity but by 2013 it was provided to customers as a cloud-based software as a service.[12]
In 2019, ActivTrak raised $20 million in a Series A round of funding with Elsewhere Partners, a growth-stage venture capital firm that principally invests in business-to-business startups. Elsewhere Partners stated they supported moving the company's headquarters to Austin, while still maintaining an office in Dallas.[13][14] Rita Selvaggi assumed the role of CEO. In 2020, ActivTrak raised $50M in a Series B round of funding with Sapphire Ventures and Elsewhere Partners.[15][16]
Product
[edit]ActivTrak is a cloud-based workforce analytics and productivity platform that uses reports, dashboards, and data analysis.[17] It captures desktop activity logs and provides dashboards and reports showing workers’ web usage, application usage,[18] and time categorized as “productive” or “unproductive.”[19] The software can capture screenshots, block websites, and create alarms for suspicious activity.[18]
In general, what's called "worker surveillance systems" are agent-based systems; that is, they collect a lot of data by installing a piece of software on the workers' computers, tablets, and smartphones. The ActivTrak Agent runs in the background and collects data. It responds to user activity, sensing mouse and keyboard movement in the active window(s) of the user's device; it does not use keystroke logging, content scraping, camera access, video recording, or mobile device monitoring[20] and it excludes data about non-business activities and sensitive information, in accordance with CCPA, GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2 Type 2 requirements.[21]
The platform uses machine learning (AI)[22] to collect and analyze user activity data, producing reports and productivity benchmarks that allow employers to compare individual and team performance against organizational averages.
Research from aggregated data
[edit]In October 2020, the company introduced the ActivTrak Productivity Lab to conduct research using the aggregate data they collect from their customers.[3] Some of the research is published in annual "State of the Workplace" reports. For example, the 2025 report found that the traditional workday 7% shorter than in 2022 but productivity increased by 2%, with remote workers having higher productivity than hybrid or in-office workers;[23] and in 2023 they stated that corporations with 4-day workweeks were not operating efficiently, with workers spending less time on their tasks per week,[24] but also that people were working more hours on the weekend.[25]
Awards
[edit]ActivTrak has appeared on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500[26] and Inc. 5000 lists.[27]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Our Team". ActivTrak.
- ↑ Fuhrmans, Vanessa (March 3, 2024). "We're Working Less on Fridays Than We Used to, and That's OK". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
- 1 2 Carlson, Kara (November 17, 2020). "Austin's ActivTrak raises $50M to grow platform, team". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
- ↑ "ActivTrak Closes Record Year with Strategic Investment, Surpassing 1 Million Users" (Press release). Austin. January 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Birch Grove Software, Inc". DataFox. Archived from the original on 2017-04-06. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Tip of the week". Network World. June 30, 1997. p. 20.
- ↑ "Birch Grove Software, Inc. develops and markets tools for Novell and Banyan Vines networks". Birch Grove Software. Archived from the original on 1998-01-26. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Monitoring User Activity". Birch Grove Software. Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Making life easier for network administrators with tools for Microsoft and Novell networks ..." Birch Grove Software. Archived from the original on 2009-06-27. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Company Profile No. 87 ActivTrak". Inc. 2026. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ "ActivTrak Overview". Pitchbook. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
- ↑ Ravina, Vincenzo (March 12, 2013). "Key Points To Consider Before Using Employee Monitoring Software". Smallbiz Technology. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (March 28, 2019). "ActivTrak raises $20 million for employee monitoring software". Venture Beat. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
- ↑ "ActivTrak Lands $20M Series A Investment From Elsewhere Partners". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). March 28, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
- ↑ "Pioneering a Better Way to Work: Why Sapphire Ventures is Excited to Partner with ActivTrak". Sapphire Ventures. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
- ↑ FinSMEs (November 17, 2020). "ActivTrak Raises $50M in Series B Funding". FinSMEs. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ↑ Brue, Melody. "ActivTrak Provides Insights, Not Surveillance, To Maximize Employee Productivity". Forbes. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- 1 2 Wiggers, Kyle (November 17, 2020). "ActivTrak raises $50 million to measure remote workers' productivity". VentureBeat. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
- ↑ Varner, Maddy (December 23, 2021). "Public Agencies Are Buying Up AI-Driven Hiring Tools and "Bossware"". The Markup. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
- ↑ Mims, Christopher (September 17, 2022). "More Bosses Are Spying on Quiet Quitters. It Could Backfire". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Behnke, Kim. "ActivTrak Review: Pros, Cons, Features & Pricing". People Managing People. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
- ↑ "ActivTrak Raises $50 Million in Series B Funding Led by Sapphire Ventures". ActivTrak. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ↑ Zaki, Adam (March 19, 2025). "New report suggests the workday now ends at 4:39 p.m." CFO (magazine). Archived from the original on April 11, 2026. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
- ↑ Fuhrmans, Vanessa (September 25, 2023). "How a Four-Day Workweek Actually Works, From the Companies Pulling It Off". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Chaker, Anne Marie (March 31, 2023). "It's the End of the Weekend as We Know It". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ "Congratulations to the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 winners". Deloitte. December 2025. Archived from the original on June 16, 2026. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
- ↑ "Company Profile: No. 87 ActivTrak". Inc. (magazine). Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2025.