London-based professional networking startup myGwork secures £1.6m for global expansion

Headquartered in London, with offices in Madrid and Miami, myGwork has its sights set on further global expansion. The funding will also help myGwork to provide more services for its LGBTQ+ members and allies by growing its corporate partnerships, and supporting organisations become more inclusive through new product and service development. That means growing its team and global footprint over the next 12 months. The investors have been hugely impressed with myGwork's growth and progress to date, despite the exceptionally difficult climate and downturn in the industry amid the ongoing pandemic.

Andy Robertson, Investor Director, 24 Haymarket: "I have been very impressed with myGwork's progress over the last 12 months. The team clearly has a very strong pulse-read on the needs and wants of the LGBTQ+ community, and what support corporates require. For the LGBTQ+ community it is clear that myGwork's ongoing job-search support, mentoring and networking offer, content delivery and one-off events are resonating extremely well. As for corporates, some are just starting out on the diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) journey, with a focus on creating an inclusive environment, and on recruitment. Other firms are striving for mastery on that journey, through ongoing engagement, training and content delivery. Whatever stage of the journey, myGwork has a corporate partnership model to suit."

myGwork's founders and brothers Adrien Gaubert and Pierre Gaubert, recently honored among the Top 100 Global LGBT+ OUTstanding Executives, attribute the company's successful growth to the team's swift response to fast-changing market conditions during the pandemic. This includes the creation of innovative services, online training and events for both its professional members and corporate clients, such as #WorkPride and #WorkFair.

Adrien (CMO) and Pierre Gaubert (CEO): "Despite the global pandemic, we have been able to continue along an accelerated growth trajectory by being flexible, and pivoting our offering to meet changing customer needs and adapt to the challenging global operating environment. Both our #WorkPride and #WorkFair events this year were a huge success – and promise to be even bigger and better next year."

The myGwork platform is enjoying a fast-growing membership of LGBTQ+ professionals and allies. Since 2014, the global platform has helped over 300 clients to attract and retain LGBTQ+ talent.  FTSE 100 companies and household brand names, such as Pearson, Colgate, GSK, the United Nations, EY, BlackRock, etc already use the platform with huge success. Pearson's Senior HR Manager, Kevin Lyons, for example, confirmed that in the first year of its partnership with myGwork, the company "recruited 692 wonderful colleagues across the globe from Europe, USA, UK, Latin America, Asia Pacific to the Middle East, into the Pearson family from myGwork". 

As a result of success stories like this, myGWork's corporate client base is growing amid the current Great Resignation to help companies successfully source, hire and retain diverse professionals. In fact, in the last few months more than 80 companies have joined the myGwork platform. 

"This new round of funding is a great signal that our investors, customers and community continue to see value in the great work we do to help organisations along their diversity, equity and inclusion journeys. We are confident that this additional investment will allow us to increase our offering and deliver more benefits," added the Gaubert brothers. "Our remarkable growth over the past year is testament to the hard work by the strong team we have at myGwork, who have worked tirelessly to deliver industry-leading content and events that keep our community connected and engaged, and work side-by-side with our clients to offer a personalised service to help them achieve their goals." 

myGwork's successful growth is a promising sign for LGBTQ+ professionals and their allies that the important work of DE&I has not only made an impact on the bottom line for inclusive employers, but also on the mental health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people. myGwork's well-timed services and growing initiatives will ensure that LGBTQ+ professionals can continue to access professional opportunities at inclusive workplaces. 

Stephan Heinz, Investor and Chief Strategy Officer, myGwork: "This is an exciting time for myGwork, our customers and our communities. "From new products including e-learning, advertising and big data analytics, to expanding into new markets and improving our internal capabilities to work smarter and faster, this investment will help us bring our ambitious roadmap to life – growing our team, our products and our footprint, to help make more organisations more inclusive across the globe." 

www.mygwork.com