Oakland, CA — AI-driven HR startup madeBOS is joining the ICA investment portfolio. Founded by trailblazing entrepreneur, business advisor, and career expert, Martha Hernandez, the company is receiving a $200,000 investment from ICA’s Growth Fund.
On a mission to find “a better way to HR'', madeBOS is changing the human resource space one employee at a time with a trademark people-first approach. madeBOS’s suite of services allows small-to-medium enterprise (SME) owners to simultaneously take care of their HR needs while empowering their employees for long-term success. madeBOS provides founders with the opportunity to consider their businesses’ strategic growth trajectory by outsourcing their HR function and establishing clear milestone-based tools to help with employee development.
Having worked for years in HR and employee success roles, including at ICA, madeBOS founder, Martha Hernandez, designed madeBOS with the knowledge that providing good jobs and helping employees succeed over the long-term, goes hand-in-hand with company success and sustainable growth. madeBOS’ services help companies stay in HR compliance while increasing worker performance and boosting retention. Martha’s vision and her commitment to equity are in clear alignment with ICA’s mission of closing the racial and gender wealth gaps.
“Martha’s commitment to building career enhancement and wealth opportunities for employees in organizations in the local community is undeniable. By helping the employees she in turn is helping these organizations grow and thrive, all in a madeBOS tech-enabled HR environment. Martha is also a fearless leader in the Oakland community and we are thrilled to support her to see what madeBOS can accomplish next,” said John Gough, ICA’s Chief Investment Officer.
ICA’s investment comes at a time of high growth for madeBOS. The company grew its revenues by 3x from 2020 to 2021 and is poised for further growth in 2022 as it continues to sign new customers and gets ready to launch its brand new app.
As part of its agreement with ICA, the company will receive a $100K investment via convertible note and an additional guaranteed $100K partnership contract to provide its HR service to companies in the ICA portfolio and investment pipeline. This unique investment will allow the company to scale its product offering, grow its team, and expand operations, while providing much-needed HR expertise to the ICA community.
As a nonprofit venture capital Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), ICA makes investments that support its mission to accelerate great businesses to close the racial and gender wealth gaps. madeBOS is a natural fit for the ICA portfolio because of its employee-centric business model and the deep commitment to equity held by its leader. The Oakland-based company has a majority-women-of-color-led software development team and is poised to grow its team to 20 employees by the end of next year.
“Working with ICA has been transformational. After years of pitching in Silicon Valley without success, I am thrilled to be entering our new phase of growth with ICA alongside us,” said madeBOS Founder, Martha Hernandez. “During the time I was raising capital only 0.37% of total venture capital investments went to Latinas. Thus it's no surprise that sadly most Latina entrepreneurs that began their startups around the same time I did are no longer around.”
In addition to securing funding from ICA, madeBOS has raised funds via a public equity crowdfunding campaign on Republic which successfully closed in 2018 and an additional investment from New Orleans-based Camelback Ventures. Martha is a Camelback Ventures alumni, having completed the accelerator’s program in 2018, and sits on the organization’s alumni Board. The company will continue to seek additional funding for further growth.
madeBOS joins more than 25 companies in ICA’s Growth Fund portfolio. The Growth Fund makes equity investments of $100K to $1,000,000 and 72.5% of its investment dollars to date have gone to companies owned by people of color. ICA’s investment strategy intentionally focuses on racial and gender equity, and supports companies that are committed to our shared mission of wealth creation and distribution to a diverse workforce.
Find more about madeBOS at www.madebos.com. To learn more about ICA and the companies we invest in, or to contact our team, visit ica.fund.
