Drake Star Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Engagedly on its Merger with Energage

New York | July 20, 2026 – Energage today announced that it has completed its merger with Engagedly, a leading AI powered talent management and employee engagement platform. Engagedly helps organizations build highly engaged, high-performance workplaces with connected performance, learning, recognition, and employee development solutions designed for today’s workforce, including frontline and deskless employees.

The move marks a major milestone in Energage’s evolution toward a platform that connects employee engagement, talent management, and employer brand into a single, integrated experience. Together, they deliver a modern blueprint that helps employers measure, shape, and showcase the employee experience so they can build cultures where people and performance thrive.

Drake Star acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Engagedly on this transaction.

In a press release announcing the closing of the transaction Eric Rubino, Chief Executive Officer, Energage said: “For more than two decades, we've helped organizations understand what makes great workplaces possible. This merger accelerates our vision of turning those insights into action — bringing workplace experience and talent management together in one intelligent platform so leaders can build stronger cultures, achieve better business outcomes, and position themselves as Top Workplaces.”

Srikant Chellappa, Engagedly’s CEO commented: "Jim Holzer and the Drake Star team were exceptional partners throughout this milestone transaction. They helped us evaluate a full range of strategic and financial options across the HR Tech ecosystem, ran a world-class process, and skillfully managed the complexities of our business to deliver an outstanding result. We are deeply grateful for their hard work, commitment, and professionalism.”

Jim Holzer, Managing Partner at Drake Star commented: "It was a pleasure to work closely with Sri Chellappa and the talented Engagedly team as well as Aquiline, an investor in Engagedly. Engagedly’s integrated talent management suite, along with its growing presence in the frontline technology sector, is a great complement to Energage. Together, the businesses provide a unique set of offerings to build high performing workplaces.”

Drake Star Team: Jim Holzer, Stanley Bejanski

Inquiries

For further inquiries, please contact:

Jim Holzer

Managing Partner | Drake Star

Jim.holzer@drakestar.com | +1 914 420 4526

About Energage

Energage is an HR technology and research company that helps organizations build workplaces where people and performance thrive. Grounded in more than 20 years of workplace culture research and the voices of more than 30 million employees across 80,000 organizations, Energage has uncovered what the best employers do differently. It brings together people science, employee voice, and Top Workplaces best practices into a proven blueprint that helps leaders measure, shape, and showcase the workplace experience — making culture a credible driver of enterprise value. Learn more at www.energage.com.

About Engagedly

Engagedly is an AI talent management and employee engagement platform that helps organizations build highly engaged, high-performance organizations with connected performance, learning, recognition, and employee development solutions designed for today’s workforce, including frontline and deskless employees.

About Drake Star

Drake Star is an award-winning global tech investment bank that has completed over 500 transactions since 2003. The Drake Star global team of experienced professionals and senior advisors across offices in New York, Munich, London, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, West Palm Beach, and Dubai* focuses on mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance services worldwide in Software/SaaS, HR Tech, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Services, FinTech, Digital Media, Industrial Tech, Consumer & Retail Tech and Mobility & Sustainability.

Drake Star is the marketing name for the global investment bank Drake Star Partners Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates. In the USA, all securities are transacted through Drake Star Securities LLC. In the USA, Drake Star Securities LLC is regulated by FINRA and is a member of SIPC. Drake Star UK Limited (FRN 942020) is an appointed representative of Razlin Ltd (FRN 730805), which is authorized and regulated by the FCA. © 2025 Drake Star Partners Limited.

For more information, visit www.drakestar.com.

*Partner Office