Two former Salesforce executives are trying to make companies more equitable by using their own data against them. And companies are paying them to do it.
OpenComp takes payroll data and provides its customers with validated reports that can then be used to set benchmarks and make changes.
"There's a lot of talk around gender, disparity and DEI," said the firm's CEO Thanh Nguyen. "When we think about this data and what we're supplying in terms of our analysis and our insight and the planning tools around it, it’s directly pointed at action."
On Thursday, the San Francisco startup announced a $20 million Series A that was led by K5 Global and J.P. Morgan. Marc Benioff’s Time Ventures also participated, as well as 8VC, Circle Ventures and Mantis Ventures.
Nguyen founded the company along with Nancy Connery last year after working in human resources at Salesforce for over two decades. Nguyen is a first generation refugee from Vietnam and Connery is a woman. Over the course of their careers, they both saw the need for data to be used as an equalizer.
"It was a common issue — this was always the biggest point of contention for not only investors but leaders, employees, managers. There was never a technology or innovation in this area," Nguyen said.
Salesforce has spent at least $16 million since 2015 to study and close its gender, ethnic and racial pay gaps, and Nguyen and Connery have taken inspiration from Benioff's efforts to improve the culture around gender and pay.
But they say such an effort has to become embedded into an organization’s routine, otherwise it will turn into a one-off project without a lasting impact.
By making data more transparent and using it as benchmarks, companies can no longer hide behind a façade of good will, Nguyen told me.
OpenComp licenses its software and charges subscription fees from a freemium to professional level. And it will be focused on growing its team this year particularly for product development, engineering and sales.
