The Mom Project expects to more than double its headcount following $8M Series A

by Michael Hines
December 17, 2018
The Mom Project CEO Allison Robinson
THE MOM PROJECT CEO ALLISON ROBINSON. PHOTO VIA THE MOM PROJECT.

The Mom Project is ending 2018 on a high note.

On Monday, the startup announced an $8 million Series A led by Grotech Ventures and Initialized Capital. The round also featured participation from Aspect Ventures, Atlanta Seed Company, Engage Ventures, OCA Ventures, BBG Ventures, IrishAngels and Wintrust Financial.

Grotech partner Julia Taxin and Initialized Capital partner Alda Dennis will join the company’s board.

“This round shows the growing interest in, and investment to, close the gender gap in the workplace,” said Head of Marketing and Community Colleen Curtis. “The elements are finally aligning that will allow significant improvements for women in the workplace, and we are so excited to be leading the charge.”

The Mom Project is a digital marketplace that connects parents — fathers can also join the platform — with flexible work opportunities. The site’s matching algorithms look beyond the resume and job posting to pair candidates with openings that also meet their life and flexibility needs.

We are focused on building a robust experience for our growing community of highly skilled moms that goes beyond jobs.”

 

While on maternity leave, Robinson read a Harvard Business Review study that found 43 percent of skilled women leave the workforce after becoming mothers. Robinson launched The Mom Project to address this issue head-on.

Skilled workers dominate the platform, with 94 percent of users holding a bachelor’s degree and having an average of between eight and 10 years of professional experience. The site has over 75,000 people in its talent network and a client base of more than 1,000 companies.

“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,” said Dennis in a statement. “Initialized wants to be part of making this cultural shift happen.”

The Mom Project will use the round to expand the reach of its products and to develop new offerings. Curtis said the company will launch in new markets and double down on the ones it has a large presence in, which include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and New York.

The Mom Project will also broaden the scope of the opportunities on its platform. Curtis said enterprise companies have shown a strong interest in the platform, and the company’s goal is to build off of that momentum while also adding opportunities from more small and medium-sized businesses, nonprofits and startups.

“We are focused on building a robust experience for our growing community of highly skilled moms that goes beyond jobs and provides support and resources at every stage of being a working woman,” said Curtis.

The Mom Project has raised a total of $11 million, which includes a $2.6 million seed round secured earlier this year. The company has a headcount of 20 and expects to be at 50 people by this time next year.

Jobs at The Mom Project

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