UK-based DE&I startup MeVitae secured €1.7 million in a seed round led by Apex Black. The fresh funds will serve to propel innovation and fuel its rapid expansion across the United States. Currently situated in the innovation hub of Harwell, Oxford, MeVitae offers a comprehensive DE&I ecosystem of HR tools meticulously crafted to detect and mitigate cognitive and algorithmic bias, empowering organizations to enhance their hiring processes, facilitating smarter, faster, and fairer hiring decisions.
Behind this innovative force is the story of MeVitae’s inception. MeVitae was founded by Oxford University Alumni, Neuroscientist Riham Satti and Computer Scientist, Vivek Doraiswamy.
“Growing up I never considered that I may not get opportunities because of my gender or skin colour but when studying at university, I started to see that play out for my network,” said Riham Satti, MeVitae Co-Founder and CEO.
“As I delved into the study of human decision-making during my degree, the rigid nature of biases became increasingly apparent. Through our extensive research, both Vivek and I uncovered the pervasive influence of biases on routine decisions like hiring, accompanied by a noticeable lack of awareness surrounding this critical issue. With our scientific backgrounds, Vivek and I are natural problem solvers and so we joined forces to tackle bias in the workplace by applying perspectives from both AI ethics and neuroscience,” added Riham.
“Fast forward to today, since the rise of the Chief Diversity Officer, we have witnessed a heightened commitment from organisations to tackle biases in their workforce. However, a persistent challenge remains: organisations struggle with knowing which interventions to implement, or how to quantify their impact,” emphasised Riham.
MeVitae’s solutions directly address this imperative. The tools not only identify imbalances in the success rates of applicants but also recommend interventions from a diverse array of tools to rectify them. MeVitae’s DE&I analytics tool then enables organisations to quantify the impact of these interventions, facilitating the development of well-informed DE&I strategies.
With a diverse clientele spanning finance, government, and technology sectors, including HS2, TfL and The Good Food Institute, MeVitae’s pioneering solutions have demonstrated tangible results, with clients reporting a substantial 30% increase in gender and ethnic diversity within their organisations. These accomplishments serve as a powerful testament to the effectiveness of MeVitae’s innovative approach in driving impactful and positive change.
In just a short span, the award-winning technology provider MeVitae has not only cultivated partnerships with industry giants like Oracle and Microsoft but has also witnessed remarkable growth. Over the past twelve months, the company achieved an impressive 350% expansion, currently operating profitably. Additionally, MeVitae has strengthened its leadership team by bringing on board a prominent industry expert, Geoff Lloyd, a well-versed HR professional with board-level experience at FTSE companies, including Airbus, Serco, and Meggitt.
“I am delighted to join the Board of MeVitae as for too long organisations have struggled with delivering the big advances in diversity and inclusion that have been striven for,” said Geoff Lloyd. “MeVitae has created a truly innovative technology platform that significantly improves both the breadth and depth of the talent pool that organisations can access through removing bias and improving time to hire, all underpinned by class-leading analytics.”
This recent investment signifies a key moment for MeVitae, providing essential resources to accelerate the development of innovative products and enhance existing solutions. Moreover, the funding serves as a powerful catalyst for MeVitae’s US expansion, enabling the team to extend its reach. Despite being based in the UK, the majority of MeVitae’s clients reside in the US, making this investment crucial for fueling expansion efforts in the United States and Canada. With bold ambitions, MeVitae sets its sights on becoming the leader in the field of Diversity, Equity and inclusion.
“MeVitae is making the workplace fairer and more equitable, and we are proud to back them in their mission,” said Rani Saad, Founding Partner, Apex Black. “A rapidly growing number of public and private organisations, across the globe, are trusting MeVitae in their drives towards diversity, equity and inclusion. This, we believe, is validation of the deep innovation and domain expertise embedded in MeVitae’s solutions, and testimony to the team’s unwavering passion.”
