Praxis Labs Raises $15.5M for its VR Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Platform

Praxis Labs, a provider of a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) learning platform designed to train employees through virtual reality (VR) experiences, has this week announced that it has raised USD $15.5 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing round co-led by Norwest Venture Partners and Emerson Collective. Other investors included Penny Jar Capital (anchored by Steph Curry), Concrete Rose Capital, SoftBank’s SB Opportunity Fund, Ulu Ventures, Precursor Ventures, and Firework Ventures.

“Our society is more segregated than ever, and the workplace is often the most diverse space we enter – where we encounter differences of backgrounds and perspectives,” said Praxis Labs co-founder and CEO, Elise Smith. “We want to help employees better work across those differences – to advance inclusion and belonging in their teams through policies, practices, products, and services that produce equitable outcomes. This funding validates our work and will help us deepen our ties with corporate workforces as well as expand to new functions and industries with context-specific learning journeys.”

Praxis Labs’ platform simulates first-hand incidents of bias and discrimination in the workplace from the perspectives of either an employee encountering bias or discrimination firsthand, or of a co-worker playing the bystander or complicit in the encounter. Employees can practice responding in the moment, reflect on their decisions, apply their learning in the workplace, and provide confidential feedback on their experience.

Praxis Labs stated that it will use the funds to scale its platform, expand its learning journey library, add several key leadership roles and hire more broadly within the company.

Announcement: Praxis Labs Raises $15.5M for its VR Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Platform