Indianapolis software firm planning to hire 102

Indianapolis-based Lessonly Inc., which sells employee-training software, announced plans Thursday to add 102 employees over the next three years, more than doubling its workforce.

The 5-year-old company said it will spend about $2 million to upgrade its existing 10,000-square-foot downtown office at 407 Fulton St. by improving workstations and meeting areas.

The company said it would look to expand the size of the office as it added more employees.

The new positions are in sales, product development, engineering, business development and services. The jobs are expected to offer average salaries of about $67,000 per year.

Lessonly announced last month that it has raised $8 million in venture capital from a variety of investors. It said it woul;d use the funds to continue hiring employees and support product innovation.

The investment was led by OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm that previously invested in ExactTarget. The funding round also included support from New York-based Rethink Education and local firms High Alpha Capital and Allos Ventures.

OpenView, High Alpha Capital and Allos Ventures also participated in a $5 million funding round for Lessonly that closed in spring 2016. Lessonly also raised $1.1 million in venture funding in 2014. The firm was founded by Max Yoder in 2012.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Lessonly up to $1.1 in conditional tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants based on the job-creation plans. The incentives hinge on the firm’s ability to meet hiring goals.

Lessonly fulfilled a previous incentive agreement with the state. In 2014, it agreed to grow employment from four to 78 by the end of the year in return for $750,000 in tax credits.

With 83 full-time employees, the firm has already exceeded that goal.

Lessonly specializes in what it calls "powerfully simple training software." Its products have more than a million users at 500-plus companies.