- Work180 has raised $2.2m as part of its mission to end workplace discrimination
- Giant Leap and Investible have joined Kim Jackson’s Skip Capital, which led the raise
- It counts Microsoft, NAB, BHP and Atlassian among its clients.
When Gemma Lloyd set out to raise $2.2 million for her jobs platform Work180, she took the challenges faced by female founders raising funds to the next level by adding one more.
“I was really nervous raising capital while pregnant, but I decided to take the upfront approach with all the investors and tell them straight away that I was pregnant,” Lloyd tells Startup Daily.
Lloyd said having a good relationship with their existing investors prior to the raise key to their continued support
“They’ve seen us grow over the last five years; they’ve seen our traction and what I’m capable of, so the news of my pregnancy was not really an issue,” she said.
New investors in WORK180 include Investible and Giant Leap, joining Joshua Borenstein, Mark Hoenig and Jeremy Same, co-founders of Lux Group, technology accelerator Startmate and Thomas Rice, lead tech analyst at Perpetual, and portfolio manager for the firm’s Global Innovation Share Fund.
On the day she received the terms for the $2.2 million round, she went into labour. Baby Charlie, her first child, is the result.
Meanwhile Lloyd and Ignatieva say the latest cash injection will go towards global expansion, including the US, growing the tech team and further developing Work180s product offering. The business rebranded from DCC Jobs win April 2018 as it launched in the UK.
Ignatieva said they plan to hire 15 new people across marketing, product and sales, taking the headcount towards 50.
“The rest of the funds will go towards growing the Work180 community of women globally,” she said.
Skip Capital principal Kim Jackson said she’s excited about the startup’s expansion.
“I’m thrilled to lead Work180’s capital raise, as they step up global expansion plans in the UK and the US,” she said.
“With their jobs platform, Work180 is addressing an important issue for female employees, and helping employers find great female talent. I look forward to seeing further workplace change in Australia and offshore.”
Giant Leap Fund’s Investment Manager, Rachel Yang, was also full of praise for the duo.
“Gemma and Valeria are incredible founders that have already made a lot of ground in improving diversity in the workforce – particularly in male-dominated industries. Giant Leap is excited to be on this journey with them to help improve Australia’s business landscape,” she said.
Investible’s Chief Investment Officer Hugh Bickerstaff said the angel investment firm had been following Work180’s progress since their first seed raise.
“It’s not every day that you get to invest in a great business that is doing so much good,” he said.
“From our first meetings with Gemma and Valeria, we were impressed with their professionalism and passion to solve this problem and saw their potential to scale quickly. Investible and our investors are proud to be involved with Work180 as they drive employers to raise the bar for workplace policies for women across the globe.”
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