Workplace productivity is always a major concern. This is especially the case in the office space or with other computer-aided professions. One study estimated that the average worker spends 2.5 hours per day responding to emails, more than half of which are dedicated to irrelevant ones. Another study indicated that the average person spends 1.3 hours per day dedicated to unnecessary meetings. There are other areas where productivity is lacking in the workplace as well. This leads to significant costs for employers as they are essentially paying a great deal of money for time wasted.

One company that believes it has an answer to some of these productivity concerns is Unitonomy. The business’s founder fashions Unitonomy as a ‘Culture Management Software’ firm. But in truth its core of operations is centered on measuring and improving workplace productivity. Consider its lead product, GLVVV. Unitonomy’s founder realized that email was a big source of lost productivity for workers. One statistic cited by the company (that we could not verify) was that 81% of workers email themselves reminders. This is so that they don’t forget issues that need to be addressed in the near future. 

To combat this problem, the company created GLVVV. In short, whenever an employee receives an email they believe will be important for the future, they can forward it using the @GLVVV.com handle. Unitonomy’s system then takes that email, uses AI to understand the content, and organizes it into different categories for use later. In theory, this organizational tool should reduce time spent going through emails. It reduces the amount of time needed figuring out what needs to be done next, and it also lowers the risk of missing out on important issues. 

Unitonomy also offers a product called GetCommit. If GLVVV is for the individual worker, GetCommit is for teams and the broader organization. The technology captures emails, documents, files, texts, and more. It then organizes and shares that information with people. This can be accomplished in two different ways. Either employees can push information from their devices/systems to GetCommit, or it can be set up to pull information from colleagues. All information is organized and made easy for its designated users to tap into when needed. 

The last feature being pushed by Unitonomy at this time is OrgVitals. This program creates tiny automated surveys (often one question per day) and sends them out to a company’s workforce. How the employees answer the questions will help to measure things like connectedness, stress, and more in the workplace. Management also claims that OrgVitals will help to see which employees boost others and which ones hinder others. How precisely this will work is uncertain, but it could be driven from information collected in the surveys.

In order to monetize its applications, management wants to charge a flat fee per employee each month. The goal is to charge $5 per employee for each application a workplace uses. The amount will decrease to $4 for those who choose to pay annually. Though not discussed in its filings, discounted pricing to encourage bundling would be a logical revenue stream. Also to encourage any work at all on its system, Unitonomy wants to operate a freemium model where it does provide some features for no charge. One example provided by management is an easy-to-use presentation builder. 

Financial information for Unitonomy is sparse. The company only has financials covering its 2019 fiscal year. Last year, revenue for the firm totaled just $25,000. Off of that revenue, it generated a net loss of $109,493. Operating cash outflow during that time frame totaled $102,685. Management did disclose, by the way, that the revenue it generated in 2019 came from grants given to it. Through today, the firm is still not generating revenue and has only recently launched its beta products. Even so, it is continuing to operate at a loss, with average monthly expenses in the latest quarter totaling $32,747. Given how early-stage the company is and the fact that it continues to work on developing these systems, it’s probable that its losses and cash outflows will only grow for the foreseeable future. 

Unitonomy seems to fit best into the productivity software market. According to one source we found, this opportunity is worth about $61.59 billion this year. With an annualized growth rate projected for it of 6.8%, it should grow to $85.45 billion by 2025. A different source pegged the market at about $44.79 billion, but estimated an annualized growth rate for it through 2025 of 16.5%. At that pace, it would climb to $96.36 billion by the end of the forecast period. 

There are other ways to look at this opportunity though. While management could come out with other offerings in the future, we should put the most weight on the products that it has today. According to one source, there were an estimated 92.4 million professional and technical workers in the US in 2018. At $4 to $5 per service per employee each month, the opportunity domestically works out to between $4.44 billion and $16.63 billion. Globally, there are around 1.96 billion workers who use computers as part of their jobs. This would increase the total possible market for the firm’s existing products to between $94.08 billion and $352.80 billion. Of course, all of these figures are based on 100% adoption rates for between one and three of the company’s current portfolio of offerings. The probability of anything remotely approaching 100% adoption is exceedingly low. 

The team running Unitonomy is quite large for a firm at this stage in development. In all, 10 individuals are listed on the firm’s roster. The top member of this group is Unitonomy’s founder and CEO, Charley Miller. At present, Miller is still also a Pledger at Founders Pledge. This is a social group of entrepreneurs who pledge some of their profits to charitable causes. He has, over the years, served as a consultant for game design and dynamics. His last major role was as the co-founder and Head of Product for TouchCast, a company that Miller claims achieved a $70 million valuation. The other major member of the business is Max Nechypurenko. He is presently Unitonomy’s CTO and is in charge of overseeing a team of seven other individuals. Surprisingly, not much information about him or his experiences could be found during our search. 

Upon a close assessment of Unitonomy and the prospects it seems to offer, KingsCrowd has rated it as a Neutral opportunity. Conceptually, what the firm is working on makes a lot of sense. It could very well go on to do well for its shareholders. But there are big risks to consider here. Given how early stage the company is, its valuation cap on its SAFE looks to be a bit high (though not necessarily unreasonable). Of even greater significance, though, is that since it’s still in a beta phase, there’s no telling whether the technology will work as intended. The firm’s founder has an impressive profile that does go a long way toward validating the concept. But that still does not remove these risks from the picture.