(RICHMOND, Virginia) Inclusively , a technology-centered employment solution and training platform connects job seekers with disabilities to inclusive companies and careers, is proud to announce, in conjunction with National Disability Employment Awareness Month, it has closed just over $5 million of its Seed round. The round includes a number of angel investors alongside Engage VC, Acumen Fund, Sorenson Impact Fund, The Pearl Fund, Cultivate, Naples Technology Ventures Frontier Fund, and it was the first investment out of Naples Technology Ventures

The NTV Prosperity Fund was created to invest primarily in minority owned companies in the Pre-Seed, and Seed stages.

Mike Abbaei, Managing Partner at Naples Technology Ventures, commented, “We invested in Charlotte and her team because of her vision and dedication to driving employment among the disability community as a matter of both human dignity and economic urgency. Her successful technology background demonstrates her ability to build the foundation and processes needed to cultivate a disability inclusive workplace that benefits all employees. We are thrilled to be a part of Inclusively’s journey and watch Charlotte’s vision expand into every corporate enterprise.”

“I am thrilled by this level of support early on in our endeavor to make employment more inclusive and disability confident. We are fortunate to have found a number of funds that believe not only in our mission but in the business opportunity in solving this problem. Initially, it was not an easy road,” said Charlotte Dales, Co-Founder of Inclusively.

“At the beginning of 2020, we were told no by so many people or were asked to ‘come back when you have more progress,’ even when we already had Fortune 500 companies paying to work with us. It appeared to me that because of our initial target market of people with disabilities, we had far more to prove at the Seed stage than our peers.

“Companies had a hard time understanding how large this untapped talent pool was and I’m thrilled that our technology and services have since provided an efficient and effective solution to drive tangible results in disability inclusion.”

In addition to building an inclusive community of employers and job seekers needing accommodations, Inclusively is creating structure and transparency around accommodations, which benefits all job seekers, regardless of disability status. Their “human-first” approach is modernizing hiring practices and notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has helped spotlight the ability of employees to work under different circumstances and environments that fit their needs, as well as the employers ability to accommodate. The idea that all employees can benefit from organizations offering accommodations creates a more level playing field for disabled employees and this cultural shift helped accelerate funding and participation in 2021.

Ms. Dales Continued, “The pandemic demonstrated that many jobs can be remote and an accommodation that employers can reasonably make. The challenge going forward will be when companies want to return to the office, and they come to us saying that the role will no longer be remote. I think there’s an educational layer that we’re sharing to employers who need to understand that this isn’t just about being remote for the pandemic but a smart business benefit that allows them to access a unified and diverse pipeline of candidates. This flexibility also can help with larger retention issues employers are facing in what’s been dubbed the “Great Resignation.”

Inclusively will use the funding to accelerate its mission of creating technology that puts meaningful progress in elevating the employment rate for people with disabilities in addition to creating a more inclusive, accessible, and accommodating hiring process for all job seekers.

About Inclusively

Inclusively is the technology-centered professional network transforming the way candidates with disabilities, mental health conditions, and chronic illnesses find jobs and connect with inclusive employers. Inclusively's innovative employment platform and job matching technology allows candidates to input their experience, skills, and needed Success Enablers (workplace accommodations) and find jobs with employers that are creating more educated, accommodating, and accessible workplaces.

In addition to providing employers a more effective and efficient way to connect the right candidates to the right jobs, they also offer digital training services, accessibility scorecards, and a team of experts to make tangible progress to their DEI goals and onboard new hires successfully.

1 in 4 of us have or will have, a disability during our working-age years and Inclusively is proud to be leading traditional recruitment into a new era of authentic inclusion that focuses on acquiring and retaining top talent while optimizing for the long-term success of individuals with disabilities to build sustainable livelihoods and careers.

For more information, please visit www.inclusively.com or follow at @workinclusively.

###