In 2013, 15Five received $1 million in seed funding from venture capital firm Richmond Global, 500 Startups, and investments from individuals, including Yammer founder David O. Sacks, Ustream founder John Ham, former editor of Mashable Ben Parr, Ben Ling of Google and Xobni founder Matt Brezina.
The idea for 15Five originated with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who implemented a weekly "5-15 report" to keep track of his employees and business while he enjoyed his adventurous life.