Tigerhall is a social learning platform that provides professional learners with a genuinely personalized and engaging experience, unlike traditional corporate learning programs or LMSs. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Tigerhall founder and CEO Nellie Wartoft to learn more.
Pulse 2.0: Can you start by sharing some specific customer success stories that illustrate the work you are doing?
Nellie Wartoft:
“One story that perfectly illustrates Tigerhall’s potential for organizational transformation involves Danielle Campbell, the Senior VP for Global Enablement and Education at Infor. Danielle was looking for an innovative platform that would allow the people in her organization to absorb new content at lightning speed — the same way that her kids do when they watch TikTok videos. Her company, Infor, which was founded on a philosophy of trying new things, being innovative, and leveraging thought leadership, immediately saw value in Tigerhall.
“Danielle’s main challenge was bringing together an experienced workforce that included top experts in their field with new talent who lacked experience but had an innovation mindset. Tigerhall helped her capture internal knowledge and deliver it in a way that was organized, trackable, and engaging for users.
“Danielle also found Tigerhall to be the solution that she needed to help her people learn faster. It allowed her to build something at scale that was reusable, empowering transformation at speed for her 20,000+ person company.
“Another success story involves the work that Tigerhall did with Tomissa Smittendorf, Director of Sales Learning and Development for Kellogg. Tomissa was looking for a solution that would help her people through a significant transition. As she started to define her goals, she realized that Tigerhall was the perfect solution. Not only did it provide the content topics that she needed, but it also gave her the power to personalize training and to adapt it as her organization’s situation evolved.
“Tigerhall also gave Tomissa what she needed to upskill people, empowering them to shift into new roles in the organization. It provided a ton of content from real-world leaders who could guide her people through change. Most importantly, it provided a scalable and reasonable approach that allowed the organization to thrive in the midst of change.
“These examples — and many more we could share — show that Tigerhall is a strategic enabler that fundamentally shapes an organization’s DNA by fostering the key attributes needed for transformation. It instills a growth mindset, transforming learning from a one-time event into an ongoing process. It creates a collaborative culture that dismantles organizational silos. Employees are empowered by Tigerhall to obtain actionable insights from industry leaders, boosting their confidence and competence. By providing regularly updated content, Tigerhall enables a future-ready workforce that keeps your organization ahead of the curve.”
Pulse 2.0: Could you tell me more about your background?
Nellie Wartoft: “When I was a 15-year-old student growing up in Sweden, I was questioning my teachers about the fixed curriculum. I wanted to know why we were focusing on memorizing things like the periodic table instead of learning important topics like leadership and finance, topics we will need to perform every day as adults. Frustrated with the lack of progress in the public education system, I launched my first business — an alternative education provider that taught senior citizens how to use technology.
“On my 18th birthday, I bought a one-way ticket to Singapore, which was where I had decided I would launch my career. I had always been fascinated with Singapore. I saw it as a place that was ambitious and invested in its future. The people of Singapore have an underdog mindset — they are optimistic and passionate about getting ahead — so it was massively energizing and exciting for me.
“While working in the recruiting industry as the lead in Sales and Marketing for Michael Page, I saw firsthand the issues in enterprise learning. This inspired me to go back to fixing problems in the field of education. My latest endeavor is Tigerhall, a social learning platform that provides an innovative new way to transform organizations by connecting organizations to the world. With insights from global leaders and a multicultural perspective, we prepare businesses to navigate and thrive in an interconnected global business landscape.
“Since launching, Tigerhall has quickly gained traction with users across 32 countries, including global Fortune 500 firms like AWS, KPMG, Mondelez, and HP. We have also attracted over $10 million in venture capital to fund Tigerhall from visionary investors including Sequoia Capital and Monk’s Hill Ventures.”
Pulse 2.0: How did the idea for Tigerhall come together?
Nellie Wartoft:
“It quickly became obvious to me when I was working with Michael Page that talent development in the corporate world needed an overhaul because it relied on outdated technology and ineffective methodologies. Those who were driving the industry were mostly accountants with experience in developing transactional ERP systems, and their lackluster efforts resulted in dissatisfied and disengaged employees at their organizations.
“Tigerhall was designed to bring talent development into the twenty-first century. Think of it as an evolution platform — not just a learning platform. We don’t focus solely on filling knowledge gaps, like traditional training or e-learning platforms. Instead, we aim to transform the thought process, changing how the workforce perceives, absorbs, processes, and applies knowledge. With Tigerhall, employees don’t just consume knowledge, but can create it, contribute their insights, and anticipate problems.”
Pulse 2.0: What are some of the challenges you face in building the company?
Nellie Wartoft:
“The challenge that quickly comes to mind is overcoming inertia. Every organization needs to evolve, but inertia keeps many stuck in a place that no longer serves them. I found this to be especially true for large, complex enterprises. They know they need to drive change and transformation — and many want to — but they suffer from collective inertia that leads to a lack of action. It’s hard to understand and harder to overcome. As someone who is always eager to lead organizations to a better future, I found this very challenging and very frustrating.
“With Tigerhall, we give organizations the power to reinvent themselves continuously. The business world is dynamic and standing still is not an option. Traditional learning tools can’t keep up. Tigerhall equips your organization to adapt and evolve, reinventing itself as necessary to seize opportunities and thrive amidst change.
“Tigerhall also needed to be designed to embrace complexity. Modern business challenges are complex and interconnected. They can’t be solved with traditional, linear thinking. Tigerhall promotes a culture of collaboration and critical thinking, helping organizations embrace the complexity of challenges and turn them into opportunities.”
Pulse 2.0: What are Tigerhall’s core products and features?
Nellie Wartoft:
“Tigerhall is more than just a learning platform. We’ve combined social technology and a global perspective to create a completely new category for learning — social learning — that redefines how learning happens within organizations. It gives companies everything they need to enable their employees to learn from the best in business, whether those experts are outside or inside their companies.
“Tigerhall provides a unique ecosystem that enables continuous professional development. It equips organizations with what they need to help their employees learn from industry leaders. It’s about growing in a way that fits into a professional’s busy life — making development a seamless part of their day. By leveraging the best practices of social media platforms and social learning methodologies, Tigerhall enables development to happen wherever and whenever.
“Tigerhall is essentially the social media of corporate learning. By integrating social technology, we’ve created a space where every individual becomes an active participant in the learning process. It’s also mobile-first, which meshes perfectly with the mobile-first culture that professionals work in today.
“Tigerhall takes advantage of all of the intuitive features users find in today’s social media platforms. There are feeds and profiles, allowing users to comment, like, and share when they find information engaging. The social nature of the platform also drives group learning, meaning users get encouragement and support in addition to practical and actionable content.
“By utilizing a social learning platform, Tigerhall allows users to have personal interactions with the ‘Thinkfluencers’ who provide expert content. The platform facilitates one-on-one and group mentoring, peer coaching, direct messaging and chatting, and livestreams.
“The Thinkfluencers who provide content for the platform bring 10,000+ insights from their experience in Fortune 500 companies around the globe. They also provide it in short, bite-sized micro-content that drives better engagement. Organizations that need personalized internal content can build it and upload it directly to Tigerhall, creating a database of tribal knowledge that employees can access even if the professionals who inspired it ultimately leave the company. It’s a way to scale internal knowledge without letting attrition affect cumulative company learning.
“Tigerhall also shatters the one-size-fits-all model that traditional training has unfortunately relied on, by delivering personalized learning that is based on the user’s unique needs and preferences. It uses AI and machine learning to optimize talent development by providing curated feeds and expert content recommendations. For managers, Tigerhall offers vital statistics that guide the creation of content and audience segmentation. In essence, it enhances the efficiency of message delivery, ensuring that the right content reaches the right people at the right time.
“Tigerhall’s ability to personalize learning also makes it the perfect solution for just-in-time learning, which is a growing need in the corporate world. Just-in-time learning provides employees with the information they need, exactly when they need it, significantly increasing efficiency and effectiveness. If an employee is facing a particular challenge, a manager can quickly construct a training module — which Tigerhall calls a ‘Trail’ — that addresses the challenge. In many cases, Tigerhall already has a ready-to-use Trail focused on that specific competency or skill.”
“Tigerhall content is both engaging and actionable, giving employees the training that they desire on leadership skills, soft skills, change management, ESG, DEI, AI, and more. It presents in-the-moment topics via today’s technology.”
Pulse 2.0: How has Tigerhall’s technology evolved since launching?
Nellie Wartoft:
“When we launched, Tigerhall was a B2C company, connecting directly with users who wanted to drive their own professional development. Now, we also offer enterprise and mid-market solutions, empowering organizations to evolve their talent development with a SaaS platform. The shift empowered us to expand beyond the Asian market and provide our services to global HQ-backed programs.
“We’ve also grown our content library considerably since launching. At the end of our second year, we were able to offer 1,000 pieces of insightful and actionable bite-sized content. Today, our users have access to more than 10,000 insights provided by more than 1,500 global Thinkfluencers.
“Tigerhall has consciously moved away from a singular, American-centric viewpoint to provide transformation empowered by a global perspective. Your team isn’t just informed — they’re equipped to navigate a complex, interconnected global business landscape. We pull in insights from your own team, plus leaders and experts from diverse markets and cultures around the world, helping your workforce understand not just local but global business dynamics — transcending borders.”
Pulse 2.0: What have been some of Tigerhall’s most significant milestones?
Nellie Wartoft:
“Our milestones have been rapidly achieved and show no sign of slowing down. For instance, we incorporated in Singapore in May of 2018 and had a seed round of investing led by WDHB Inc. that raised $1.1 million over the following month.
“In March 2019, we had our App Store release, which made Tigerhall accessible to users in 153 countries. In December 2019, we closed our Pre-A round of funding of $2 million. One month later, we secured our first enterprise client.
“Other notable milestones include passing the 1,000 mark with our bite-size content, which we did in January 2021, and passing the 800 mark with our Thinkfluencer roster, which we did in June 2021. In July 2021, we expanded into the US market and rounded out the year with a Series A round of investing that attracted $7 million.
“During 2022 and 2023, we hit exciting staffing milestones, making leadership hires including a Head of Product, Head of Content, Head of North America Sales, Head of North America Marketing, and Head of North America Customer Success. In 2023, we successfully integrated our platform with Microsoft Teams.”
Pulse 2.0: Are you able to discuss funding and how the company generates revenues?
Nellie Wartoft:
“Tigerhall has been funded by venture capital, angel investors, and private equity. Specifically, that has included Monk’s Hill Ventures, Sequoia Capital (Surge), WDHB, Taurus Ventures, XA Network, and Vulpes Ventures, as well as our angel investors.
“Our revenue model is centered on providing a B2B SaaS social learning platform. Tigerhall delivers a range of services provided directly to enterprises, including subscriptions, content curation and creation, mentorship programs, and live sessions. These services provide revenue primarily through subscription sales and additional supplementary services. The pricing is a per-user, per-year pricing model.
“Our revenue growth is driven by the continuous expansion of our client portfolio, both in terms of acquiring new enterprise customers and expanding relationships with existing ones. By providing a scalable and customizable solution, we have been able to capture market share in the United States and throughout Southeast Asia and generate recurring revenue from long-term client engagements.”
Pulse 2.0: What total addressable market (TAM) size is Tigerhall pursuing?
Nellie Wartoft:
“Statistics on talent development show that $370 billion gets poured into upskilling employees worldwide each year.”
Pulse 2.0: What differentiates Tigerhall from its competition?
Nellie Wartoft:
“While many learning platforms can offer similar features, what truly differentiates Tigerhall is its unique combination of high-impact, curated learning from real-world industry leaders, flexible learning options, and a community-focused approach. Tigerhall is more than a tool — it is an engine of growth. We don’t just provide content, but create an ecosystem of curiosity, collaboration, and application, driving the growth mindset essential for today’s businesses.
“Tigerhall goes beyond just gathering experts. We cherry-pick top leaders from various industries who have made tangible, significant impacts in their fields. The insights they share are not theoretical but are derived from their real-world experiences. As a result, they bring an unmatched level of authenticity.
“Tigerhall also provides the unique ability to have one-on-one interactions with industry leaders. This direct access allows for personalized guidance, advice, and mentorship that’s hard to find elsewhere.
“While many platforms offer multiple formats, Tigerhall’s unique combination of podcasts, power reads, and workshops are designed to cater to busy professionals, providing bite-sized learning that can be seamlessly integrated into daily routines. These dynamic learning formats are also used to provide highly tailored learning paths based on individual career goals and organizational objectives, ensuring that learning is targeted, relevant, and impactful. By allowing customized curation of content, it provides exactly what is needed to drive organizational transformation.
“Overall, Tigerhall’s platform fosters a vibrant community of like-minded professionals, encouraging knowledge sharing, networking, and collaborative problem solving, which enriches the overall learning experience. Few platforms empower that type of community-driven learning.
“The modern business landscape is complex, ever-changing, and globally interconnected. The problems organizations face are dynamic, interconnected, and unpredictable. With Tigerhall, you’re not simply adopting a learning platform or investing in learning and development; you’re integrating a technology that drives your organization’s evolution, preparing your workforce for the complex, rapidly changing, and globally interconnected business landscape.”
Pulse 2.0: What are some of Tigerhall’s future company goals?
Nellie Wartoft:
“As the global leaders in social learning, our goal is to continue to build out the category. Social learning has everything it needs to become the default approach for the global education system, from primary school to continuing education. Tigerhall is committed to making sure the world sees the benefits of that. By merging social technology with global insights, we will continue to actively redefine learning within organizations, turning it from a passive to an active, continuous process.
“It’s also important to us to change the employer mindset when it comes to hiring criteria. A university education no longer gives students what they need to perform in the business world — the information is outdated and the instructors are out of touch. We are working to see social learning replace universities and kill the MBA.
“Also, working through the Tigerhall Foundation, we want to continue to develop and deploy solutions that empower social mobility through social learning. I have always been a huge advocate for social mobility. Everyone should have the opportunity to be successful at what they do and reach their life goals.
“Background and circumstances do not need to be a limiting factor when people have equitable access to practical, actionable knowledge. I long for a future in which employers recruit, develop, and promote talent based on meritocratic data, mindsets, and skills rather than by university brand names. Where you come from should never get in the way of where you want to go.”
