It’s with great excitement that I share our most recent investment in Daivergent, a reimbursable technology platform supporting job-seekers with disabilities. Founded in 2017, Daivergent is the first all-virtual job training program that serves as a bridge between 21st-century employers and this high potential but often overlooked and underutilized talent source.
As part of our Inclusive Investing approach, we have researched and sought out founders with future of work solutions that have significant impact within historically marginalized communities. Unfortunately, people living with disabilities have not received much attention in the form of scalable software solutions in workforce preparation. The reality is 1 in 5 Americans live with a physical disability or cognitive difference that affects their ability to find work, accounting for a staggering unemployment rate of up to 85%. In spite of the historic level of open positions, job-seekers with disabilities continue to encounter significant barriers in their pursuit of self-sufficiency.
We feel fortunate to have met Co-Founders Byran Dai and Rahul Mahida who are talented entrepreneurs and personally passionate about building a solution in this space that will provide solutions for individuals close to them. Byran Dai, co-founder and CEO of Daivergent, said “I’m committed to providing a competitive talent pool that employers need and raising the bar on what high-quality upskilling looks like for 70 million neurodivergent families like mine.” Byran and Rahul are childhood friends, each has personal experience in supporting neurodivergent family members. Through our diligence process, their commitment to improving quality of life for both their loved ones and the broader neurodivergent community shone through. In addition to their personal connections to neurodiversity, 33% of the management team at Daivergent is neurodiverse.
We believe in Byran and Rahul and also believe that their solution meets a unique need and reduces barriers to employment and upskilling for the neurodiversity and disability community. Nasir Qadree, Managing Partner at Zeal Capital Partners shared, “We are focused on narrowing the wealth, skills, and opportunity gaps in order to turbocharge economic mobility, and Daivergent is a company that is doing exactly that and has already created significant impact.” If we seek to truly address the adult talent employment gap, then it is essential that we invest in solutions like Daivergent to improve job readiness and match skilled workers to meaningful job opportunities.
Daivergent’s technology provides virtual courses in high-growth job areas including IT and Customer Service, delivered through a nationwide platform. Data collected from the platform is used to create a personalized learning plan for candidates, allowing for targeted instruction in vocational, social, and life skills from Daivergent’s curated course library. The company will use the seed investment to further develop its talent matchmaking technology and expand its proprietary course catalog, and add new reimbursement options for families enrolled in Medicaid.
The $3.3M funding round was led by Zeal and I’ll be joining the Daivergent board. I’m excited to work with Byran and Rahul as well as their other talented investors including Enable Ventures, Springbank Collective, and several renowned angels in the neurodiversity ecosystem, in addition to existing institutional investors Difference Partners, Kapor Capital, Moai Capital, Divergent Investments, and Remarkable Ventures.