Diversity-focused rectech company Joonko has announced the raising of a $25 million Series B round, which it will use to fuel expansion, grow its team and open a U.S.-based co-headquarters.
The funding round was led by Insight Partners, alongside Target Global and existing investors Kapor Capital and Vertex Ventures Israel. Diversity and inclusion leaders who sit on the company’s advisory board — including Bernard Coleman (Gusto), Nicole Cuellar-Lopez (Etsy), Samuel Tam (Visa), Rachel Williams (Motley Fool), Mikeaela Ann-Smith (Chainalysis) and Mercedes Chatfield-Taylor (Artico Search) — also contributed.
Joonko will use the funds to open co-headquarters in New York, alongside its existing headquarters in Israel, with the aim to expand headcount by 70% by the end of the year.
Described by Forbes as “the only automated sourcing platform focused solely on underrepresented candidates,” Joonko builds complex algorithms, drawing on NLP (natural language processing) models developed in-house. It is also “working on deep learning models that enable us to identify marginalized communities and maintain 100% underrepresented candidates.”
The Tel Aviv-based company, founded in 2016, has posted 500% growth in sales for two consecutive years. It says clients typically see a 25% increase in underrepresented candidates in their hiring funnels and hire one in six of the candidates sourced through the platform.
Joonko says its “zero-touch technology” matches candidates’ skills and professional background to relevant open positions at more than 120 partnering companies. Clients, all of whom are U.S.-based, include Adidas, PayPal, Amex, Booking.com and Intuit.
“While many companies rely on referrals to fill open roles, the data shows this can lead to a homogeneous workforce. As a woman in tech, I saw this as a major roadblock to hiring underrepresented talent,” said llit Raz, Joonko founder and CEO.
“Joonko puts the spotlight on the overlooked — including ‘silver medalist candidates’ who made it to the final stages at top companies but didn’t get the job. By combining a world-class talent pool with AI-powered software, we’ve become a must-have recruiting tool. Today’s funding will allow us to expand access even further so we can change the makeup of companies everywhere.”
Some 97% of its candidates identify as underrepresented in the workforce — 68% as women or non-binary, 32% as Black, and 21% as Latinx.
“We are thankful to our new investors and partners Insight Partners, Target Global, and the continuous support of our exciting investors Vertex Ventures and Kapor Capital, for their support and belief that recruiting underrepresented talent has become a top priority, as a crucial first step to investing in an inclusive workforce,” wrote Joonko, announcing the funding on LinkedIn.
Joonko has also appointed Albrey Brown — who it says has built and overseen various diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) programs — as general manager of U.S. & VP of strategy.