LOS ANGELES, July 16, 2024 — Making Space, a B2B SaaS talent acquisition and learning platform for companies to train, access, and retain pre-qualified Disabled talent, is thrilled to announce the successful close of an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed funding round. Led by Beta Boom, with participation from JFFVentures, FullCircle, American Student Assistance (ASA), ECMC Foundation, SmartJob, Mindshift Capital, Techstars and other notable investors.
The CEO is second-time founder Keely Cat-Wells. Her first company, acquired by Whalar in 2022, represented one of the largest investments in Disabled talent within the creative industries. Cat-Wells and Sophie Morgan founded Making Space and Making Space Media due to their lived-experience as Disabled workers and struggling to find accessible pathways to education and employment after acquiring their disabilities.
Making Space bridges this gap by embedding job-specific and accessible education into the talent acquisition process. This approach unlocks productivity and offers fast payback and clear ROI for enterprise clients while providing increased access to higher-quality jobs and a competitive advantage for disabled workers. Making Space’s software ties impact to fundamental business metrics such as reduced time-to-hire, higher employee retention rates, and improved employee performance, becoming an integral piece of employers’ recruiting and learning infrastructure. “Making Space is capturing a massive labor arbitrage opportunity by unlocking a previously untapped net new pool of talented and pre-qualified workers. Clearly this is not merely a potentially fleeting initiative.” Noted Virginie Raphael, founder & Managing Partner, FullCircle.
Disabled people (including those who are chronically ill, neurodivergent and who have mental health disabilities) are twice as likely to be unemployed, and only 49% of Disabled students graduate from four-year colleges compared to 68% of their non-Disabled peers. Additionally, 61% of disabled employees do not disclose their disabilities at work, primarily due to concerns about discrimination and bias which can lead to high turnover, stagnant career growth, and a significant loss of valuable talent. To address this, Making Space has developed “Compass,” an AI tool within a candidate’s profile that turns the lived experience of disability into transferable skills and personalized career pathways. Currently in beta, the feature will be publicly released in the coming months. Creating a welcoming and equitable work environment where all workers can thrive is at the core of Making Space’s vision beyond its initial recruiting wedge.
The pre-seed funding round, which received substantial interest and exceeded its original target, marks a significant milestone, particularly given that Disabled entrepreneurs are 400 times less likely to secure venture capital funding.
“At Beta Boom we love to back founders that have displayed superhuman tenacity and resilience. Making Space is bridging the gap between overlooked talent and world class opportunities, and that’s just the beginning.” – Sergio Paluch, Managing Partner, Beta Boom
In its first year, Making Space has already democratized free, accessible education for over 1,800 people with disabilities. While industry agnostic, the company’s notable partnerships include two of the world’s largest media corporations:
- Netflix Partnership: Making Space partnered with Netflix to provide job-specific education, pre-qualifying and building a pipeline of Disabled graphic designers. Read more
- NBC Sports Partnership: Making Space partnered with NBC Sports to enhance employment opportunities for Disabled talent both in front of and behind the camera during the upcoming Paris Olympics and Paralympics broadcasts. This collaboration included hiring the first-ever Disabled hosts for NBC’s Paralympics coverage. Read more
“Our partnership with Making Space has already proven beneficial prior to our coverage of the Paris Games,” said Alexa Pritting, NBC Sports’ supervising producer of the Paralympic Games. “We cannot wait for all of the tremendous work we will continue to do once the Games begin and as we work to increase representation in the sports world and beyond.”
About Making Space
Making Space is a talent acquisition and learning experience platform for companies to train, access and retain pre-qualified Disabled talent. Making Space offers accessible skill-based learning for talent sourcing, career advancement and mobility, boosting productivity and delivering clear ROI for employers. Their model improves key metrics like time-to-hire, quality of hire, retention rates, and employee performance. Making Space is a Techstars company, the winner of the inaugural WGU Labs Pitch competition at ASU+GSV and won Gold at Pepperdine University’s Most Fundable Companies competition. Making Space is home to Making Space Media, a brand that creates film, TV, educational and promotional content centring the Disabled voice. Making Space Media has a first-look deal with Reese Witherspoons, Hello Sunshine.
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