TORONTO, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Toronto-based accessibility platform Fable announced that it has closed a $10.5M USD Series A financing round. The round was led by Five Elms Capital, with participation from Difference Partners, Disruption Ventures and several notable angels including John Ruffolo, one of Canada's most prominent investors and an advocate for accessibility and inclusion. This round follows a $1.5M USD seed round led by Disruption Ventures in 2020.
The accessibility industry has experienced rapid growth over the last several years, alongside the growth of companies prioritizing user experience.
Ultimately, our goal is to empower people with disabilities to participate, contribute, and shape society. By working with companies who serve millions of users, we’re well on our way.
"Accessibility isn't just about people with disabilities," says Fable CEO Alwar Pillai, "it's about prioritizing users with the most complex set of needs, and as a result building a better experience for everyone."
Fable already counts the tech world's behemoths amongst its customers. Companies like Meta, Walmart and Microsoft are all using Fable to engage with people with disabilities. Large enterprises have complex products that are constantly being iterated and improved, and feedback from end-users is essential in that process.
After the successful launch and adoption of their flagship product, Engage, Fable is now tackling education. Fable Upskill aims to support customers' entire inclusive product development journey.
"Accessibility is a growing industry, but the skill sets haven't caught up to the demand. Fable Upskill helps customers level up their teams and build the skills they need to build products that delight all their users," says Pillai.
Fable Upskill uses custom video-based courses to help teams gain the accessibility skills they need. And companies like Microsoft are jumping at the opportunity.
"Working with an organization that shares the same passion around developer accessibility that Microsoft does has been invigorating, which is why we are so excited for Fable's latest fundraising news. We are looking forward to the awesome things to come and a continued accessibility partnership with Fable," shared Dona Sarkar, Director of Technology – Microsoft Accessibility, Microsoft.
"Ultimately, our goal is to empower people with disabilities to participate, contribute, and shape society. By working with companies who serve millions of users, we're well on our way," concludes Pillai.
"Fable's unique value proposition in the accessibility space and the platform's ability to address multiple customer pain points throughout the Inclusive Product Development journey had us immediately excited. We are thrilled to partner with the Fable team and believe that Fable has a unique opportunity to help shape the rapidly evolving digital accessibility industry. Our goal is to support the business in expanding more of what has made them successful to date – bringing the experience of the customer to the forefront of the design and development process," said Austin Gideon, Partner, Five Elms Capital.
More information about Fable is available at http://makeitfable.com.
About Fable
Fable is the only accessibility platform powered by people with disabilities. We help some of the largest organizations in the world build incredible and accessible digital user experiences for over 1 billion people who live with disabilities.
Fable enables accessibility managers, user researchers, designers, and developers to connect remotely and on-demand to people with disabilities, who are daily assistive technology users. Fable also provides full-service training, embedded research programs and expert-led workshops that help companies operationalize accessibility and move beyond compliance.
About Five Elms Capital
Five Elms Capital is a leading growth investor in world-class software businesses that users love. Five Elms provides capital and resources to help companies accelerate growth and further cement their role as industry leaders.
With over $3 billion in assets under management and a global team of 70+ investment
professionals, Five Elms has invested in more than 70 software platforms globally. The firm's operational value creation team supports the portfolio, working alongside companies to accelerate growth, build executive teams, improve retention and sales & marketing efficiency, upgrade analytical infrastructure, and expand into new markets.