Nurau

Nurau operates as a B2B software-as-a-service company, offering an AI-powered conversational coaching platform for front-line managers. The company was founded in Montreal, Canada, in 2020 by CEO Justin Lessard-Wajcer, CTO Sonia Israel, and COO Saba Saremi. The founding was motivated by the recognition that managing people is a significant challenge for businesses, and effective managers are crucial for workplace health and reducing costly employee turnover.

The core of Nurau's offering is its eCoach platform. This tool provides managers with 24/7 personalized and secure support to help them navigate sensitive and complex workplace conversations. The platform uses artificial intelligence, including natural language processing and emotional inference technology, to deliver step-by-step guidance, suggest specific phrasing, and predict potential employee responses. A key feature is its ability to create a customized AI model for each client by integrating their internal policies, employee handbooks, and collective labor agreements, ensuring the advice is aligned with the company's specific HR practices. Beyond real-time coaching, Nurau provides an HR dashboard that offers confidential, aggregated data and trend analysis on the challenges managers are facing, giving leadership valuable insights to inform their people strategy.

The business primarily targets industries with high employee turnover, such as retail and manufacturing. Clients include recognizable Canadian retailers like Ardene and Bikini Village, as well as the Royal Bank of Canada. The company's revenue model is based on an annual subscription fee, typically priced per user. Nurau's value proposition is centered on reducing manager escalations, saving managers time on conflict resolution, and ultimately improving employee engagement and retention. The company's development was supported by McGill University's Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship, which provided early-stage mentorship and resources. After an initial friends-and-family financing round in 2022, Nurau secured a $1.5 million CAD seed round in late 2024, led by Investissement Québec, to fund its expansion into the U.S. market and enhance sales development.

Keywords: manager coaching, conversational AI, HR technology, employee engagement, leadership development, conflict resolution, employee retention, people analytics, workforce intelligence, front-line managers, corporate wellness, emotional inference technology, SaaS, B2B, employee experience, personalized coaching, retail management, manufacturing management, human resources support, workplace communication