<\/p>\n
Neurodivergent individuals often have <\/span>a harder time<\/span> finding jobs than their non-neurodivergent counterparts. <\/span>Unemployment for neurodivergent adults runs at least as high as 30-40% \u2013 three times the rate for people with disability, and eight times the rate for people without disability, according to UConn\u2019s Center for Neurodiversity and Employment Innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n Some neurodivergent individuals may lack the social skills necessary to go through a grueling interview process, and others may simply not have the confidence to apply.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But in fact, this population may have specialized skill sets that not only make them good candidates but \u2013 some may argue \u2013 even <\/span>better<\/span><\/i> suited for certain roles than non-neurodivergent people. Some research shows that neurodivergent people can <\/span>make teams up to <\/span>30% more productive<\/span> when placed in the right environments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Enter <\/span>Mentra<\/span>. The Charlotte, N.C.-based startup, whose three co-founders are all autisti is building what it describes as an AI-powered \u201cneuroinclusive employment network.\u201d Specifically, its tech platform leverages artificial intelligence to help large enterprises hire employees with cognitive differences such as autism, <\/span>attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder (<\/span>ADHD), dyslexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/span><\/p>\n The startup\u2019s unique premise caught the early attention of OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, who first invested in the company with a $1 million pre-seed investment in February 2022 through his venture firm, Hydrazine Capital. Mentra also <\/span>won an AI for accessibility grant from Microsoft. Shine Capital led its $3.5 million seed round this year, which also included participation from Altman\u2019s fund, Verissimo,\u00a0Full Circle,\u00a0Charlotte Fund, as well as angel investors including\u00a0David Apple\u00a0and\u00a0Dawn Dobras.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDiversity of thought is the key to tackling humanity\u2019s most complex challenges. The most innovative companies of our time have embraced neurodivergent thinkers,\u201d said Altman in a written statement. \u201cMentra is the bridge companies have long-needed to access this untapped talent pool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Since its launch, Mentra \u2013 whose name <\/span>comes from a combination of the two words, \u201cmentor\u201d and \u201cmantra\u201d \u2013 <\/span>\u00a0has signed on over a dozen companies including Harvard Business Publishing, Trellix and Auticon. The platform has also partnered with over 30 universities and more than 200 service providers across the United States. Its talent pool has grown from 300 neurodivergent job seekers in March of 2022 to over 33,000 today.<\/span><\/p>\n What sets Mentra apart is its approach to job fit, maintains Mentra co-founder and CEO Jhillika Kumar. The startup goes beyond keywords in resues to match employers with talent, she said,\u00a0 considering factors around a person\u2019s neurotype, aptitude, environmental sensitivities. To date, its one-year retention rate has remained at an impressive 97.5%.<\/span><\/p>\n Kumar came up with the idea for the startup while studying at Georgia Tech. She was doing research on the non speaking community, looking for ways to help her non-speaking autistic brother, Vikram, to communicate. Existing tools were sub par.<\/span><\/p>\n After 27 years of being unable to communicate his thoughts, Vikram\u2019s ability to learn how to type through an accessible letterboard both surprised and inspired Kumar.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t actually know for a while whether or not he was intelligent because he\u2019s very disconnected \u2013 in his own world,\u201d she recalls. \u201dBut over time, I realized that even though he couldn\u2019t speak, he could use the iPad, and he was very proficient at going to YouTube and doing things. So we were like, \u2018Okay, there\u2019s clearly intelligence here.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One way Mentra uses AI is <\/span>to parse through job descriptions to make sure they are cognitively accessible and broken down in a consistent format that is not exclusionary.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThen we are able to use an algorithm to go through the jobseekers on our platform to identify who\u2019s the best fit based on mostly neuro type,\u201d Kumar told . \u201cOne person might be extremely good at hyper focusing, very detail-oriented, very process-oriented or very strategic, and you have specific skills that map to their strengths in the role.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Over 70% of the data Mentra collects is not collected by an Indeed or a traditional job-finding platform. It uses that holistic data to make the match between the job and the individual.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One in every seven humans are neurodivergent, and many of them are highly under or unemployed \u2013 still living with their parents and\/or financially dependent on them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI began to recognize the importance of employment,\u201d she said. \u201cI realized what makes us cognitively unique is what makes us talented. The moment someone has to mask a dimension of their neurodiversity, they suppress dimensions of their talent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So she teamed up with <\/span>Conner Reinhardt<\/span> and <\/span>Shea Belsky<\/span> to start Mentra with the goal of helping companies approach neuroinclusion as more than just a DEI initiative. The team\u2019s argument is that neuroinclusion should be integrated into the company\u2019s infrastructure and DNA. In many cases, that may require a culture shift across teams.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re firm believers that all companies will be more productive if you have diversity of thought in every organization,\u201d Kumar said. <\/span>\u201cBy embracing our divergence, companies can unlock the full potential of their employees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s also proving to be a viable business model.<\/span><\/p>\n When Mentra first launched in 2022, it operated largely as a services organization, becoming profitable with a traditional per-hire pricing model. Despite being profitable, the team felt that that model would be limited in its ability to scale. It has since transitioned to a \u201cscalable\u201d SaaS model where employers subscribe to access Mentra\u2019s talent pool and recruiting product, according to Kumar. Since that transition earlier this year, the company has brought in an additional stream of SaaS revenue, 67% of which is annual recurring revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhile the enterprise focus and more economical SaaS offering could mean a longer road to profitability, we have seen strong market adoption and are actively in conversations with 40+ enterprise customers,\u201d Kumar told . \u201cOur goal is to hit $3m in SaaS ARR by the end of 2024.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While Mentra has seen \u201cstrong\u201d global demand, centered primarily in the United Kingdom and Asia-Pacific region, Kumar said the company is currently focused \u201con nailing the U.S. market for enterprise companies.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The startup\u2019s current revenue model is free for neurodivergent jobseekers, and it charges an annual subscription for enterprise companies to access the platform. It is also building out a neuroinclusion marketplace for service providers such as consultancies and training firms to provide hands-on services to companies that accompany Mentra\u2019s core platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the future, we plan to have a similar marketplace available for neurodivergents to access tailored services as well throughout the life of their career such as bootcamps and job coaches,\u201d Kumar added.<\/span><\/p>\n Shine Capital founder and general partner Mo Koyfman said Mentra is unlike any other startup he\u2019s come across. Koyfman \u2013 who has backed the likes of Plaid and Harry\u2019s \u2013 supports Mentra\u2019s premise that <\/span>people who might have one of a different learning styles \u201cmay spike on certain things versus other things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd so actually, they may even be better for certain jobs than others. For example, in the AI world we know that there are folks with Asperger\u2019s, or some form of autism, tend to be way better at data labeling tasks,\u201d he told in an interview.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to look at Mentra and label it as \u201canother DEI play.\u201d But to do so, he said, would be undermining its uniqueness.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot<\/span> of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives where they try and force the wrong people on the wrong jobs and the name of the AI and that to me is is not a good solution, because those people will end up not doing as well at those jobs and either fail or foster resentment amongst others,\u201d said Koyfman, who has a dyslexic daughter. \u201cBut Mentra is about getting people in the jobs that they\u2019re best suited for, and that are the right fit for those jobs who will actually outperform their otherwise traditional peers\u2026So it\u2019s a pretty big addressable market that the traditional recruiting platforms just don\u2019t cater to specifically and I fell in love with that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He added: \u201cNot only are they doing something that\u2019s good, they\u2019re doing something that is economically, positive and productive for society, and those finding opportunities to do both, is very, very, very, very rare.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Neurodivergent individuals often have a harder time finding jobs than their non-neurodivergent counterparts. Unemployment for neurodivergent adults runs at least as high as 30-40% \u2013 three times the rate for people with disability, and eight times the rate for people without disability, according to UConn\u2019s Center for Neurodiversity and Employment Innovation. Some neurodivergent individuals may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nUsing AI to parse through job descriptions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
A \u2018scaleable\u2019 SaaS model<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Not just another DEI play<\/strong><\/h2>\n