St. Louis-based startup Inclusively, which has developed software to help employers manage staff with workplace accommodations, has raised $13 million to deploy a new technology platform it has launched.
Inclusively said Thursday it raised $13 million in a Series A funding round led by San Francisco-based Firework Ventures. The deal also included existing investors in Inclusively, including New Orleans-based Benson Capital Partners. Benson Capital Partners is led by Gayle Benson, owner of the National Football League's New Orleans Saints and the New Orlean Pelicans of the National Basketball Association.
Launched in 2019, Inclusively began operations by developing a jobs platform that helps companies find employees with disabilities. Its software allows job applicants to choose and identify accommodations they will need for job interviews and on the job with companies. The startup was named in February to St. Louis Inno's 2023 Startup to Watch list.
The Series A funding for Inclusively comes as it has expanded its technology, launching a new “workplace personalization product” called Retain, designed to help all employees at a company request workplace accommodations. In addition to employees with disabilities, Inclusively said Retain can help employees with accommodations in areas such as mental health, immigration, veteran status and caregiving, adding its approach "resonates with Gen Z’s demands for a more personalized and inclusive workplace.”
Co-founders Charlotte Dales and Sarah Bernard said Inclusively learned through the launch of its initial platform for workers with disabilities that there are adjacent pockets of employees who have needs for workplace accommodations.
“We had gathered so much data around accommodations and started to get a lot of interest from the employees that we work with at the large enterprises on how they can also use Inclusively around the accommodations process,” said Bernard, Inclusively's chief operating officer.
Inclusively said its Retain software acts as a hub for employees to learn more about their accommodation options and to request accommodations, and that includes artificial intelligence technology, which helps to automate 60% of the accommodation request process. It also provides data about accommodations for companies to track.
Bernard said Retain aims to give employees a platform to easily understand and request accommodations and provide employers a platform in which they can help staff be more productive while also meeting their needs. Inclusively estimates companies save $4,000 on turnover and productively costs when employees share their accommodation needs.
Inclusively said more than 50 large businesses use its software, including local firms Edward Jones and World Wide Technology. Other customers include Delta Air Lines, Pfizer and Accenture. Dales said Inclusively plans to use its Series A funding to focus on its marketing and sales for Retain. That will include seeking to have clients who have used its initial platform to also use Retain. It also wants to grow its customer base, with a goal of adding 100 net new customers next year, Dales said. Dales, CEO of Inclusively, said education about workplace accommodations and the role that Retain has in helping companies manage their workforce will be key to its marketing strategy.
“We need to educate the market. Everybody knows there’s a problem, but they don’t exactly understand what the problem is and how to solve it," she said.
Inclusively has 27 full-time employees. It operates remotely, but has its largest hub of employees based in the St. Louis region. Inclusively in 2020 won a $50,000 grant from local nonprofit startup funder Arch Grants and last year received an additional $100,000 through Arch Grants’ Growth Grants program.
