This is one of Pittsburgh Inno's 10 Startups to Watch in 2023, with the rest of the list to be rolled out throughout the week. These budding enterprises have been selected following suggestions made by experts in the startup community and an evaluation by editorial staff at Pittsburgh Inno and the Pittsburgh Business Times. A list of all 10 Startups to Watch in 2023 is also available to read online.
Culturora Inc.
About the company: Culturora Inc. is a startup that looks to help its clients build inclusive cultures by connecting new employees with others at their company via the facilitation of video conversations designed to build meaningful relationships. The startup believes this method ultimately leads to an increase in new-hire retention rates. It has raised $300,000 in total investment, including a $125,000 Amazon Web Services Impact Accelerator grant. The East End-based startup’s four co-founders — Jody Madala, CEO; Adam Yee, CTO; Carly Cook, vice president of customer success; and Riley Fisher, head of engineering — make up its current employee count following its founding in 2021.
Why we’re watching: Previously, the startup has placed as a finalist in the McGinnis Venture Competition at Carnegie Mellon University’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, and it also has participated in CMU’s prestigious VentureBridge program. It’s considered to be one of the more promising active startups to come out of CMU in the past few years.
What’s their vision for 2023: “Our vision for 2023 is to add more customers and employees to the platform and ensure that our current 98% engagement metric is mirrored by at least the same amount of value in the eyes of the user and the buyer,” Madala said. “Our value proposition is to help companies increase new-hire engagement, conversion and retention with our employee networking platform that helps new hires understand how their work fits into the broader organization, find purpose in their work and discover their unique connection to company culture.”
