Sandra Healy’s Inclusio has ambitions to be Ireland’s first female-founded tech unicorn.
Inclusio, a tech start-up led by CEO and founder Sandra Healy, is to create 80 new jobs after raising €6.2m in funding.
The Enterprise Ireland-backed firm made the announcement in light of collective funding raised in its latest seed round, totalling €4.1m.
“Our software helps organisations pinpoint and focus diversity and inclusion actions in a more strategic way”
This latest funding round was led by was led by Elkstone and backed by Atlantic Bridge, Enterprise Ireland, and Oyster Capital, as well as private investors Brian Caulfield, John Hearne and Wakeup Capital.
Diversity delivers dividends
On the back of this latest funding round and to fuel further growth, Inclusio will create 80 jobs in the next 18-24 months. The additional team members will help Inclusio to expand into new markets and to build on its existing customer base which already includes Sodexo, RSA Insurance Ireland, 123.ie, FBD insurance, Linesight, Kilsaran, Public Appointments Service, IPB insurance and Teagasc.
The new roles are in technology, sales and marketing. They will be based at its headquarters in Dublin and will add to its base of 35 employees.
Inclusio is the first digital platform to combine technology, behavioural science and psychology for organisations to use to help them drive improvements in Diversity and Inclusion within their workforce and deliver measurable improvements in their culture and business performance that should be realised as a direct result of these improvements in the employee lived experience. Inclusio spun-out as a private company in 2020.
The business is currently working closely with Ulster University and Stanford University in the US on a project around accommodations for neurodivergent staff, for example, people with autism.
“There is nothing else like Inclusio in the world,” said Healy. “In 2016, inclusio set out to solve a problem and bring a scientific-evidenced approach for employers to listen to the collective voice of their people and to measure, track and act on Diversity and Inclusion.
“Our software helps organisations pinpoint and focus Diversity and Inclusion actions in a more strategic way. We are now beginning to create international and sector benchmarks — with a focus on leading the way globally in this space.”
“This funding and jobs boost will further help us on our journey of scaling our team and offering our knowledge and expertise to ensure companies can get Diversity and Inclusion right and ensure that it’s not a tickbox exercise. I’d like to acknowledge the support of Enterprise Ireland in backing Inclusio from the beginning. Enterprise Ireland’s funding of the research and development into Inclusio were the building blocks of the platform. I’d also like to thank our range of investor funding which will drive our growth strategy over the next 18 months.”
Inclusio is developed by experts in behavioural data science, psychology, artificial intelligence, equality, diversity and inclusion. inclusio works with organisations — both in the private and public sector — providing them with scientific, evidence-based data and inclusion insights linked to their business KPIs and ROI.
“We at Enterprise Ireland recognise the importance of diverse business teams and that increased diversity fosters innovation, creative thinking and leads to better results for businesses,” said Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy.
“As far back as 2016, the excellent team at Inclusio foresaw a gap in the market and the pressing need to address Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace. Enterprise Ireland is delighted to have partnered with Inclusio at each stage of its rapid growth journey through research commercialisation, our flagship High Potential Start-up Programme and in international markets. Congratulations to Sandra and the entire Inclusio team on its job creation plans and recent investment wins. We look forward to working with the team as they continue to scale and compete in global markets.”
Niall McEvoy, venture partner at Elkstone added: “Diversity and Inclusion is a critical issue for modern leadership teams in building the businesses of the future. Inclusio has developed a category leading platform based on the data science of D&I, offering company leadership teams real data driven insights to develop and deliver actionable solutions to drive organisational change. The leadership team at Inclusio are already recognised global thought leaders in the space.”
Main image at top: Niall McEvoy, venture partner with Elkstone; Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD; Inclusio founder and CEO Sandra Healy; and Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy
