French startup 50inTech has raised €1.5 million in a recent seed round to develop a software-as-a-service product aimed at measuring and improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in tech companies. The company’s goal is to provide concrete metrics and performance indicators to support HR managers and DE&I teams in their efforts.
Key Takeaway
50inTech aims to revolutionize the way tech startups approach diversity, equity, and inclusion by offering software tools to measure and improve DE&I metrics.
Introducing GenderScore: Measuring Gender Diversity
One of 50inTech’s key offerings is GenderScore, a scoring system that measures gender diversity in the workforce. HR managers can input 54 data points into the tool, which then provides a score out of 100 to evaluate a company’s gender diversity performance. Currently, 163 tech companies in France, the U.K., and Germany have calculated their GenderScores. Unfortunately, the results reveal a significant gender gap, with only 24.5% of women in tech roles and 23% representation on company boards.
Improving Diversity Ratings
According to 50inTech, improving diversity ratings requires a focus on both hiring practices and retention. Surprisingly, despite tracking GenderScores, 72% of companies fail to monitor the turnover of female employees. 50inTech suggests implementing flexible work policies, fair career paths, unbiased promotions, and transparent pay policies to reduce the pay gap and retain diverse talent. Although tools like PayAnalytics and Figures exist to address the pay gap, few startups utilize them.
Reducing Biases in Recruitment
In addition to retention and hiring, 50inTech also emphasizes the importance of reducing biases in the recruitment process. The company’s recruitment tool, GenderHire, utilizes LinkedIn data of 30,000 women to provide inclusive sourcing and market data to companies. By integrating with a company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS), GenderHire can help identify gender imbalances in specific roles and highlight biased practices in the recruitment funnel.
Moving Towards Inclusion and Future Plans
While 50inTech currently focuses on gender diversity, its long-term vision includes expanding to other equity and inclusion topics. The company plans to evolve its GenderScore into an InclusionScore to cover a broader range of DE&I metrics. By providing tools that track and improve DE&I metrics, 50inTech aims to enable tech companies to create positive feedback loops that result in better internal policies, more inclusive hiring processes, and improved overall performance through diverse teams.
With the support of its recent funding round, 50inTech is determined to bring about lasting positive change in the tech industry by redefining how diversity is measured and prioritized.
