Circle In lands $2 million to expand its platform beyond support for working parents

Employee support platform Circle In has just secured $2 million in its latest round of funding. The round was led by Alberts Impact Ventures.

The company was founded by Jodi Geddes and Kate Pollard back in 2017 when they found a lack of resources or support available to mothers to help navigate and manage their careers once they became parents.

Six years later, Circle In has grown to become an entire platform that employers can engage to help support working parents — at every stage of that journey — as well as remote workers and carers.

The latter stood out to me in particular. Having seen my own mother have to provide that support for my grandmother in the years leading up to her death, I’ve seen firsthand how this role is often forgotten about, let alone supported by workplaces.

Circle In provides workplaces with resources, online coaching, a community to share stories, as well as ‘nudges’ for managers. It has different tools for different stages of the parenthood journey, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

“What is being asked of managers has grown tenfold as we emerge from the pandemic. Our research shows that 97% of managers have supported a team member to navigate a personal issue, yet 8 in 10 managers haven’t received any training when it comes to supporting their teams through personal issues,” Circle In co-founder, Jodi Geddes, said in an email to SmartCompany.

“Our support for managers through these key moments is the number one reason customers purchase our product, as we know that how leaders and managers respond to an individual’s experience can have a critical impact on culture.”

This round of funding follows a $1.5 million seed fund raise back in 2019. Geddes said that Circle In’s biggest challenge so far has been raising again in such a tough market.

“It was, without a doubt much harder this time around. It took double the amount of time and double the amount of effort,” Geddes said.

“We have defied the odds and set Circle In up for future success.”

As it moves into the future, Circles In will be branching out further to include wellbeing, which is a big focus for HR teams.

“Given our expertise and success in supporting managers through difficult moments, we are working on an exciting new manager-led product that will launch later this year, and is being co-designed with our customers,” Geddes said.

“We ultimately want to work with organisations globally to create a culture of connection and care.”

According to Geddes, the latest funding round will go towards this new product, as well as other product features and expansion into other markets.