Humankind acquires Blackbird-backed management training platform The Mintable to address manager capability gap

Humankind has acquired Australia-based The Mintable’s management training platform, backed by Blackbird Ventures. The move comes as organisations face a growing manager capability gap and rising expectations on leaders to lift performance, engagement and retention.

Michael Tolo, Partner at Blackbird Ventures, said The Mintable has already had a strong impact across the ecosystem.

“Lauren, Melissa, and the team have had a real impact training managers across the Australian ecosystem and beyond, including leaders inside many of our own portfolio companies. We’re glad to see the platform continue under Humankind’s stewardship.”

Research suggests around 60% of first-time managers receive no formal training when stepping into leadership roles. At the same time, Gallup research shows managers account for around 70% of the variance in team engagement, underlining their outsized impact on performance.

The Mintable works with brands including Tracksuit, Sharesies, Lion Food and Beverage and Notion. Its platform will form part of Humankind’s broader offering, providing organisations with a scalable programme that equips managers with core foundations to lead effectively as organisations grow.

Humankind CEO Kalyn Ponti said the acquisition reflects what the firm sees across growth companies: strong strategy and talent, but inconsistent management capability.

“Good leadership has an outsized impact on an organisation’s ability to perform,” Ponti said. “People are often promoted into management roles because they’re great at the work, then expected to lead others with little preparation for what that actually involves day to day. 80% of this comes down to getting the fundamentals right: clarity on what success looks like, giving honest, timely feedback on progress, and balancing high care with high expectations. At Humankind, lifting leadership capability is a core part of the work we already do alongside executive teams. Acquiring The Mintable strengthens our ability to support our clients with this at scale.”

Co-founders Melissa Miller and Lauren Humphrey are thrilled. CEO Lauren Humphrey said the platform was built to help managers develop habits and skills that translate into day-to-day leadership, particularly in modern, distributed teams.

“Managers are carrying more complexity than ever, and many are doing it for the first time,” Humphrey said. “With The Mintable platform now part of Humankind’s offering, organisations can combine structured management training with embedded people and culture expertise to build confident managers and stronger teams as they scale.”

The Mintable’s programmes are designed to be practical and habit-forming, focusing on core management skills such as setting expectations, building effective rhythms, coaching and feedback, and navigating difficult conversations.

The acquisition brings together Humankind’s fractional model, embedding senior people and culture leaders inside organisations, with a structured management development platform that can be rolled out consistently across teams. Humankind said it expects the combined offering to support organisations seeking to professionalise management as they grow, including those expanding across markets and operating with distributed workforces.

The companies said existing customers of both Humankind and The Mintable will continue to be supported, with The Mintable platform now available through Humankind as part of its end-to-end people, performance and culture offering.