About Included
Included is a Technology company based in Redmond (United States) founded in 2020 by Chandan Golla and Laura Close, and was acquired by Phenom in January 2026. Cloud-based analytics for diversity recruiting and inclusion insights are provided. Included has raised $7.3 million across 2 funding rounds from investors including Phenom, Trilogy Equity Partners and Flying Fish Ventures. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Raghu Gollamudi. Included offers products and services including Included Platform, Engagement Insights, and Talent Acquisition Tool. Its focus areas include Enterprise Applications, HRTech, Workforce Analytics and Suite. Its legal entity is INCLUDED INC. Its competitors include Cornerstone, Korn Ferry and ActivTrak; 2 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Included was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Redmond, United States. Operations center on the HR technology sector, where recruitment analytics for diversity and inclusion are delivered via a cloud-based platform. Insights are derived from organizational DEI data, supported by integrated crawls that gather multiple data points. DEI reports are generated to support informed decision-making in hiring processes.
- Headquarters Redmond, United States
- Founders Chandan Golla, Laura Close
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsTechnology
- Website included.ai
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook
- Acquired by Phenom (Jan 2026)
- Legal Name Included Inc.
Products & Services of Included
Included offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Included Platform, Engagement Insights, and Talent Acquisition Tool.
AI tool for HR data integration and retention insights.
Platform linking engagement scores to performance metrics.
System for optimizing hiring pipelines and recommendations.
Funding Insights of Included
Included has successfully raised a total of $7.3M across 2 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Seed round of $5.4 million completed in May 2022. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $7.3M
- Total Rounds 2
- Last Round Seed β $5.4M
- First Round $1.9M
(Nov 2021)
- Investors Count 5
All 2 funding rounds of Included with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | $5.4M | Seed | β | Trilogy Equity Partners | |
| Nov 2021 | $1.9M | Seed | β | β |
6 investors in total: 6 institutional.
Investors in Included
Included has secured backing from 6 investors, including venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Phenom, Trilogy Equity Partners and Flying Fish Ventures.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Early-stage venture capital is invested in US technology sectors. | trilogyequity.com | Bellevue, United States | ||
Flying Fish Ventures is focused on investing in AI and ML startups. | flyingfish.vc | Seattle, United States | ||
Seed and early-stage startups are funded by SignalFire. | signalfire.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
Venture capital investing and portfolio management services for accredited investors. | av.vc | |||
Ascend is recognized as a pre-seed venture capital fund based in the Pacific Northwest. | ascend.vc | Seattle, United States | ||
Talent experience management platforms are provided for engagement and recruitment. | 2010 | phenom.com | Ambler, United States |
Investor details for Included
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Included
7 people are tracked at Included (7 in leadership).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Chandan Golla | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Laura Close | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Raghu Gollamudi | CEO | Leadership |
Konstantin Komissarchik 🇺🇦 | Chief Technology Officer (CTO) | Leadership |
Raghu Gollamudi (he/him) | Co-Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Laura Close (she/her) | Co-Founder, Chief Business Development Officer | Leadership |
Anna Bethke | Director Of Data Science And Ethical AI | Leadership |
Complete people profiles for Included
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Included
4 dated milestones of Included across 6 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Included is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $1.9M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Seed, of $5.4M.
- Exit Acquired by Phenom.
Competitors of Included
Included has 3 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include Cornerstone, Korn Ferry and ActivTrak.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cornerstoneondemand.com | 1999 | Santa Monica, United States | $87.95M | 1,204 | Cloud-based HRMS platform powered by AI for workforce management. | |
| kornferry.com | 1969 | Los Angeles, United States | 8,678 | Talent acquisition and consulting services are provided globally. | ||
| activtrak.com | 2012 | Dallas, United States | $70M | 41 | Workforce analytics solutions are provided for employee monitoring and productivity. |
Detailed competitors of Included
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
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Web traffic of Included
The website of Included (included.ai) receives about 5.7K visits a month.
- Monthly visits5.7K
▲ 87.8% vs previous month
Top companies in HR & Workforce Technology
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Included (HR & Workforce Technology) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anonymous employee reviews and job search platform are operated. | 2007 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 201.5 M | 1,695 | ||
Cloud-based LMS platform for IT industry | 2004 | Farmington, Utah, United States | USD 235.41 M | USD 4.95 M | 1,774 | |
Employee health benefits are facilitated via a cloud-based platform. | 2007 | Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, United States | USD 228.3 M |
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Related news about Included
Complete news archive for Included
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Frequently Asked Questions about Included
Included was founded in 2020 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Included is headquartered in Redmond, United States. It is registered at Redmond, Washington, United States.
Raghu Gollamudi is the CEO of Included, as recorded in our data.
Included is a funded company, having raised a total of $7.3M across 2 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $1.9M, raised on Nov 2021.
Included was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Redmond, United States. Operations center on the HR technology sector, where recruitment analytics for diversity and inclusion are delivered via a cloud-based platform. Insights are derived from organizational DEI data, supported by integrated crawls that gather multiple data points. DEI reports are generated to support informed decision-making in hiring processes.
Included's top competitors include Cornerstone, Korn Ferry and ActivTrak.
Included offers Included Platform, Engagement Insights, and Talent Acquisition Tool.
Included has 6 investors. Key investors include Phenom, Trilogy Equity Partners, Flying Fish Ventures, SignalFire, and Alumni Ventures.
Included operates through Included Inc..
Yes. Included was acquired by Phenom in January 2026.

