Companies of all sizes need to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, but early stage companies, like startups, have a rare advantage—they can prioritize these policies and practices before their culture has taken root. Read more about why our partners at North Carolina–based startup The Looma Project are focusing on DEI right now.
The Looma Project
Founded: 2018
Funding round: Seed
Industry: Marketing, Grocery/Retail
Highest-rated InHerSight metrics: Ability to Telecommute, Paid Time Off, Flexible Work Hours
What The Looma Project does
Looma exists to connect shoppers to the people and stories behind their products. Our first product, Loop™️ At-Shelf Maker Stories, is a network of tablets in grocery stores that play short, human-centric films connecting producer to consumer. The data generated by Loop™️ fuels our proprietary storytelling process, forming a flywheel we believe will one day power the world’s most sophisticated platform for human-centric point-of-decision video.
Explore The Looma Project's ratings
What does diversity mean to you?
An interweaving of people with various identities and backgrounds (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status), experiences, and interests. We're stronger, smarter, and more resilient for it.
How do you think diversity will impact your company in the short- and long-term?
We're relatively early stage, though we're gaining steam, and intentionally prioritizing team diversity now will go a long way toward supporting a diverse team down the line (not to mention a successful and happy one!). It's also important to me that we have an array of experiences and perspectives involved as we build. Long-term, I'm excited about the ways a diverse Looma team could disrupt the rather homogenous industry of grocery retail.
What are some of your diversity goals over the next 24 months?
Hiring practices are top priority right now (i.e. overhauling job descriptions for inclusive language, interviewer calibration) along with our commitment to diversifying our board with our next appointee.
Beyond partnering with InHerSight, what are some ways you’re already incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into your company’s growing culture?
We're conducting regular culture surveys with the team, our DEI special projects committee is rolling out, and we're deliberately leveraging our product Loop™️ (which plays short films at-shelf in grocery stores) to highlight minority stories of craft. We recognize we have a long way to go, as well, so we're pressing into education both as a team and as individuals.
