JULY 30 2021

Published in the Australian Financial Review

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The who’s who of angel investors and tech-types have bought into parent support platform Circle In, which has already won a host of big name clients including Medibank Private, Atlassian and Culture Amp.

Melbourne business woman and Reserve Bank board member Carol Schwartz, Aconex’s Leigh Jasper and Rob Phillpot, Andrew Sypkes and Employment Hero’s Ben Thompson have all invested in Circle In’s latest $2.275 million funding round.

The company’s first investor was Our Innovation Fund, which has also backed the likes of Go1, Kasada and Eftsure.

The company, which was founded by Jodi Geddes and Kate Pollard in 2018, has created a software platform which enables managers to better support employees through parenthood, be that undergoing IVF, when raising young children or supporting teenagers.

The business has boomed in the last year, as more corporations have needed to find ways to support staff juggling working and looking after young children from home during the pandemic.

The company has signed 50 big business clients, with its first major customer Medibank Private.

Other customers include EY, GAP and Estee Lauder.

“The manager proposition is the number one reason people purchase the program now,” Geddes said.

“We’ve built in manager nudges, conversation guides, calendar integration and features that make it a manager’s job easier, enabling them to provide the right support and empathy to working parents.”

Within its 50 customers, Circle In is used by about 15 per cent of the workplace.

The capital raised will support its growing footprint in the US and UK.

Geddes said the business plans to raise a larger Series A round mid next year, which will be aimed at US investors.

“COVID has really enabled us to take the business to a new level... it forced us to introduce a number of new features, including a caregiver solution, extending the manager proposition and realising that people need not only support in the workplace, but outside,” she said.

“When you go to work, you don’t leave your home life at home and it’s the same when you come home. It’s all combined.”