Built on inclusion: what the numbers say about auticon, Specialisterne, Nyby and the investors behind them
InkludX has opened two new sections in Economics of Inclusion. [Inclusion ventures](https://www.inkludx.com/en/economics/ventures) profiles startups and companies whose business is getting disabled, neurodivergent and other excluded people into work. [Investing in inclusion](https://www.inkludx.com/en/economics/investment) maps the investors, funds and public schemes that pay for it. Every figure was checked against its source, and each one says whether it is self-reported, from public accounts or from an independent source.
The pioneers are getting smaller — and say so
auticon, the IT consultancy where most consultants are autistic, merged with Norway's Unicus in June 2023. The combined company had 575 employees and aimed for more than 600 by the end of that year. Its own impact reports show 552 employees in 2024 and 494 in 2025. The people who do join tend to stay: 79% stay two years or more, and 66% were unemployed or underemployed before they joined.
Specialisterne, founded in Denmark in 2004 by Thorkil Sonne, reported more than 10,000 people helped into jobs at its 20th anniversary. In 2026 it reports over 500 staff and offices in 11 countries. Specialisterne Australia let its whole workforce go in November 2025.
Norway: growth, but not yet profit
Unicus grew its Norwegian revenue from NOK 17.9m in 2021 to NOK 32.7m in 2024, then fell back to NOK 29.0m in 2025. Nyby, which helps municipalities build task-based collaboration networks, grew revenue from NOK 4.6m to NOK 16.4m between 2021 and 2025, but its public accounts show a loss every year. Inclue, the recruitment firm owned by Norges Handikapforbund, launched in 2022 forecasting operating profits of NOK 1.4m, 2.7m and 4m; it has made a loss every year since.
Who pays
Ferd Sosiale Entreprenører reports that its work-inclusion companies gave jobs to 1,770 people from outside the labour market in 2023. Denmark's Den Sociale Kapitalfond closed a DKK 670m fund in 2024 and reports that 22.5% of employees in its portfolio companies came from the edge of the labour market. Sweden's Utfallsfonden, at SEK 400m, puts at least 80% into outcome contracts. At Ananda Impact Ventures, fund managers earn no share of profits unless at least 60% of the portfolio's impact targets are reached.
Paying for results works — up to a point
The UK's Mental Health and Employment Partnership used outcome contracts to fund employment support for people with mental health conditions or learning disabilities. Oxford's Government Outcomes Lab found that 33% of engaged participants started a job, and 55% of them kept it for at least 13 weeks. Each extra £1,000 of outcome payments made a job start 21% more likely and 17% faster.
How to read it
The profiles describe; they don't rate or recommend, and nothing in them is investment advice. Most impact figures come from the companies themselves. We will re-check every figure at least once a year.
Sources: auticon impact reports 2024 and 2025 and merger release (2023); Specialisterne (2024, 2026); Proff public accounts for Unicus AS, Nyby AS and Inclue AS (2026); Handikapnytt (2022); Ferd (2024, 2026); Den Sociale Kapitalfond (2024); Impact Investor (2025); Ananda Impact Ventures (2025); Government Outcomes Lab, University of Oxford (2025). Full source lists are on each profile.