The Mom Project, a Chicago-based startup that helps moms discover new careers, has announced it has raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Grotech Ventures and Initialized Capital. Aspect Ventures and existing investors Atlanta Seed Company, Engage Ventures, OCA Ventures, BBG Ventures, IrishAngels, and Wintrust Financial also participated in this round of funding.
Following this funding round, The Mom Project has raised a total of $11 million since it was founded. And this funding round will enable The Mom Project to expand its reach of female diversity hiring products that are used by some of the largest employers including AT&T, Procter & Gamble, and BP.
Photo Credit: The Mom Project
“We’ve tapped into something powerful. For decades, women have searched for a solution like The Mom Project,” said Robinson in a statement. “What’s different now is that most employers are now paying attention to gender diversity and see the impact that ignoring it has on their financial performance. Since 86% of American women will become mothers by age 44, we believe supporting and retaining moms in the workforce represents the largest opportunity to close the gender gap in the United States.”
The Mom Project launched in 2016 after CEO Allison Robinson went on maternity leave from a strategy role on the Pampers North America team. Robinson read a study in the Harvard Business Review that 43% of skilled women exit the workforce after having children. Due to the lack of solutions, Robinson looked into solving the problem on a national scale.
In conjunction with this funding round, Grotech partner Julia Taxin and Initialized Capital partner Alda Dennis is joining The Mom Project board.
“The Mom Project is determined to create a future where women aren’t forced to choose between their families and their careers,” added Dennis. “There is a huge pool of experienced talent, parents and non-parents, that is sometimes overlooked because companies haven’t created the kind of diverse, flexible workplace culture that attracts and retains them. Initialized wants to be part of making this cultural shift happen.”
The Mom Project now has a community of over 75,000 talented professionals and more than 1,000 companies.
“Companies have started to realize the value in building a diverse workforce, but we still have a long way to go in achieving equal representation and opportunities,” explained Taxin. “Allison and her team have built an incredible marketplace of diverse talent for companies and I look forward to working with The Mom Project to execute on their vision of helping to close the gender gap in the workplace.”
