The first native woman to raise a series

For tech startup founder Bobby Racet, being the first to do something is in the Cre-Metis blood. Her mother was the first female carpenter in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, home to First Nations peoples.

Racette is the first Native American to close an $8.4 million Series A funding round for her company Virtual Gurus, which pairs employees with companies looking to outsource accounting and other administrative tasks.

In the year Since her launch in 2016, she has brought the company to a $40 million valuation with $300 and a splash page. “Someone has to lead the way, and someone has to be the first,” said Reset, who is LGBT.

“Society says: When you start a business, you have to be someone else or hide your tattoos. “Don’t tell people you’re gay,” she added. “Like, no, man, be you.”

Currently, there are about 900 “virtual assistants” for the virtual gurus, but they’re real people who work remotely — Racette makes sure to prioritize hiring members of historically underrepresented groups, including single mothers, veterans and people with disabilities. “We try to bring in the people who say ‘No,'” she said.

The company doesn’t force anyone to reveal themselves, but many organizations seek out virtual gurus for that purpose.

“For example, Black Lives Matter came to us in New York City. [say they] They just want black virtual assistants,” Resette said. We do that because we understand the diversity angle.

In fact, 40% of Virtual Gurus’ revenue comes from the United States – and that share is growing every year. Currently, one of their biggest clients is the international design company IDEO.

“Here in Canada, we have a large number of clients that are starting to come to us, and these are people who are looking for 200 to 400 virtual assistants at a time,” Rackett said. “Basically we have full back office support for large corporate accounts and then we also have solopreneurs, if they need an executive assistant to support them. We’ve noticed it’s expanding. It’s just going to keep going up and up.”

The company’s revenue — after Racette was laid off during the recession — tripled during the pandemic. “When the economy is really strong, our sales are still good, but not as strong as during a recession,” she said.

Now, with another recession looming in the United States, she feels ready.

“With the economy the way it is now, it’s often the administrative staff who have to go first,” she says of her business model. “When those people are laid off, we’re taking them on, and we’re looking to bring them back to the companies that come to us. What makes it special is that you’re paying for advertising.”

Companies can choose a subscription model based on how much help they need, and Racette is building a machine learning suite that aims to create the best possible matches between employees and customers. She has hired 40 full-time employees and plans to bring on 1,500 more virtual assistants by the end of the year.

While she continues to attract investors and traverse the world — she recently sat on a panel at a conflict conference in Toronto — she says being CEO was never on her bucket list. Her highest education is a high school diploma and she lived in a van for a few years as a safety technician in the oil and gas industry in the Canadian mountains. Her dream was to teach music to deaf children.

“So here I am,” she said with a laugh. She recently completed a year-long business leadership program at Harvard University, where she was nominated.

Racette has never liked being in the spotlight, but she knows it’s a natural part of her business. She meditates on keeping herself balanced and is enjoying the recent flurry of attention, but is eager to hit the pause button on her constant journey.

“I will never stray from who I am,” she said. As an LGBT native woman, I am available to the world.