TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / August 10, 2021 / Joonko, the HR tech startup that helps companies meet their diversity recruiting quotas, announced the closing of a $10 million round A led by Vertex Ventures Israel.
Joonko's recruitment solution assists companies to achieve their diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) goals through its ecosystem that identifies and suggests pre-qualified candidates from across a range of underrepresented sectors, saving recruiters precious time on sourcing, attracting and validating relevant candidates.
The company's applicant pool currently consists of over 100,000 pre-qualified individuals from minorities and other underrepresented groups.
Joonko connects with the applicant tracking systems (ATS) of partner companies to spot pre-qualified candidates and resurface them as recommended talent anywhere in the Joonko ecosystem, utilizing an AI-powered algorithm to match the talent to relevant job openings.
According to Deloitte's 2020 Human Capital Trends report, 93% of respondents believe that a sense of belonging is a key driver of organizational performance. Research from Boston Consulting Group confirms this, finding that organizations that have stronger than average diversity are more innovative, see more revenue from their innovations and are overall more profitable.
Many companies, including major corporations like McDonald's, have instituted incentive programs for diversity hiring. And yet, the tech ecosystem doesn't seem to be making much progress when it comes to inclusion.
"Our mission is to enable companies to make their DE&I goals a reality by delivering better representation of diverse talent," said Ilit Raz, Joonko's CEO and co-founder.
"Our automated solution helps companies attract, source and gain access to qualified, underrepresented talent. The long-term goal here is to become a go-to solution for HR departments to recruit top diverse talent along with providing the know-how and tools that empower an inclusive workplace culture."
Joonko boasts an impressive list of clients with market leaders across a range of verticals, including Adidas, PayPal, American Express, Regions Bank, Atlassian, and Intuit recognizing the value that Joonko can provide.
Joonko's recent growth - 40% quarter-on-quarter throughout 2020 - has been fueled in part by increased awareness around social justice issues. As public opinion drives companies to focus more on their commitments to diversity, both consumers and executives are putting pressure on HR leaders to increase representation of minorities in the workforce, with companies introducing incentives for recruitment managers who hit diversity quotas.
The company's approach attracted the attention of Vertex Ventures, which led the A round. Vertex has a long track record of investing in successful tech startups - notable exits include CyberArk, Solaredge and Waze while Ownbackup, Verbit, Yotpo are all currently in high-growth mode. This is Vertex's first social justice startup investment.
"We're proud to add Joonko to our portfolio," said Yanai Oron, Vertex General Partner. "We see more and more forward-thinking corporations recognize workforce diversity as mission critical and a powerful business requirement which poses a competitive advantage. We're excited to see Joonko's role in disrupting the world of workforce culture."
About Joonko
Joonko is improving workplaces across the United States by providing recruitment teams with qualified talent from diverse backgrounds. Powered by our homegrown Artificial Intelligence, Joonko is recreating talent pipelines, disrupting recruiting norms, and eliminating bias in real-time.
Contact information
Dan Edelstein
[email protected]
+972-545-464-238
SOURCE: Joonko