Praxis Labs, a software-as-a-service virtual reality (VR) company with an end-to-end immersive learning platform, has raised an investment from Accenture Ventures as part of its broader Project Spotlight initiative.
Funded through Accenture’s Black Founders Development Program, this investment reflects Accenture’s ongoing commitment to providing black entrepreneurs with funding, connections with Accenture clients and ecosystem partners, and community engagement to help support a new generation of innovators in growing their companies and building generational wealth.
Founded in 2019, Praxis Labs combines learning science, workplace scenarios in VR/MR, and actionable insights to improve equity and inclusion for learners and clients. The platform leverages immersive learning to target key areas across the talent lifecycle and highlight what individuals and organizations can do to create workplaces that work for people and deliver products and services that serve everyone. Its clients include Uber, ServiceNow, and Ericsson.
Speaking about the capital raised, Co-founder & CEO of Praxis Labs, Elise Smith, said:
Three years after the murder of George Floyd, the consensus is that not enough has been done to address diversity and inclusion issues in corporate America effectively. Developing ‘human skills’ like providing fact-based feedback or navigating difficult conversations are required to create psychologically safe workplaces and enable all perspectives to be heard. Immersive equity and inclusion training can play a powerful role in helping companies achieve their goal of having all their employees show up each day confident and equipped to work across differences and build products and services that serve the diversity of their clients and customers.
Smith added:
We believe the support of Accenture Ventures, particularly the Black Founders Development Program, will help us advance our mission of providing workplace leaders with solutions that drive inclusion, innovation, and value at scale and, ultimately, create a more equitable society.
As part of Project Spotlight, Praxis Labs will have access to Accenture’s domain expertise and its enterprise clients and the opportunity to co-innovate with Accenture at its Innovation Hubs, Labs and Liquid Studios, working with subject matter experts to adapt its solutions to the enterprise market and scale faster and more effectively.
Kathryn Ross, Global Liquid Studios lead & the Black Founders Development Program lead for Accenture Ventures, commented:
Black founder innovations, ingenuity, and insights are not being brought to fruition largely because they aren’t receiving adequate funding and support to get their ideas off the ground. Accenture’s Black Founders Development Program was launched to help these entrepreneurs pursue their dreams and achieve their goals. Praxis Labs already provides its immersive diversity and inclusion training offerings to many Fortune 500 companies, and we look forward to introducing them to our clients and partners worldwide and supporting their mission of delivering meaningful impact and change.
Praxis Labs has partnered with the world’s leading enterprises to solve some of their most pressing business challenges, such as employee engagement, retention, and innovation. The startup has launched platform updates that allow greater flexibility for learners and program administrators. With these new features, learners can enjoy Praxis’ immersive content on-demand and as needed. Administrators gain more agency in designing learning journeys that meet the moments that matter most for their people across the talent lifecycle, from hiring to performance reviews and everything in between.
In 2021, Praxis Labs had closed its oversubscribed Series A financing co-led by Norwest Venture Partners and Emerson Collective.
