Dallas-based Kanarys—a technology platform that fosters collaboration between companies and employees on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace—has closed a pre-seed funding round at $1.5 million.
Earlier this month, Kanarys reported raising $1 million in a pre-seed round, according to Crunchbase. In February, we reported on the company raising $575,000 in pre-seed funding.
Co-founders Mandy Price (Kanarys’ CEO) and Star Carter join the previous 50 black women in the United States who have raised more than $1 million in venture capital funding, according to Inc. Bennie King also is a co-founder. The team celebrated the launch of its platform in July with a party at One Arts Plaza.
The Kanarys team at the startup’s launch party. [Photo: Courtesy Kanarys]
Kanarys’ first-of-its-kind platform allows a company to measure its performance against DEI benchmarks and identify areas of improvement and growth. It accomplished that by gathering and analyzing cultural and demographic data, industry rankings and trends, and anonymous employee reviews on DEI to help companies cultivate more inclusive workplaces.
“We aim to create diverse and inclusive workplaces, where everyone feels a sense of belonging,” Price said earlier this year. “Although there have been noble and well-intentioned efforts to improve diversity by many employers, there hasn’t been a focus on true inclusion.”
Anonymous employee reviews are based on personal experiences and can be submitted without fear of repercussions. Data collected from the reviews is made available through a company dashboard for corporate early adopters, so they can then use the feedback and input from real employees to make better decisions about how to improve the culture.
Earlier this year, Price told Dallas Innovates the company was the result of the co-founders’ own experiences. The trio said they were reluctant or hesitant to raise some inclusion and diversity issues because they were concerned about retribution or retaliation.
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