Sona bought Yapster to put proven retail messaging under its frontline workforce suite

Sona is a UK HR software platform for frontline personnel management — scheduling, attendance, absence and messaging; Yapster was a UK mobile messaging app for front-of-house retail teams.

Sona's VC funding totalled over $10M from investors including Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused fund; acquisition terms undisclosed

Founded in 2015 by Rob Liddiard, Yapster became the UK occupational messaging app for retail shift workers. Sona, co-founded by CEO Steffen Wulff Petersen, builds a workforce management suite for frontline staff that already lets users launch instant-messaging chats alongside scheduling, attendance and absence management.

Announced January 17, 2023, the acquisition adds an app whose customers include brewery-pub chain BrewDog, coffee house Caffè Nero and motorway service operator Welcome Break, and is meant to aid Sona's UK expansion amid strength in the HR software space. Liddiard called Sona 'the only technology supplier I've seen in my 7 years running Yapster' capable of delivering the consumer-grade design and AI power customers want.

Buying a messaging app whose named customers include BrewDog and Caffè Nero buys retail credibility a feature built in-house would take years to earn.

Sona had raised over $10M including Google's Gradient Ventures — the deal converts that balance sheet into category depth in frontline communications.

The consolidation ride a wider wave: HR software deals were multiplying as employers pushed frontline digitisation.

Tuck-in acquisitions work when the target already owns the credibility you want: Yapster brought named retail customers and a founder willing to say his buyer was the only credible home.

As of the January 17, 2023 announcement, Yapster's team joined Sona with the app's BrewDog, Caffè Nero and Welcome Break relationships intact, and Sona positioned messaging plus AI as its next layer on top of scheduling, attendance and absence management.