Inc. Names Upeka Bee, Founder and CEO of DianaHR, to Its 2026 Female Founders 500 List

Bee recognized for her achievements in the HR industry category

Published on Mar. 10, 2026

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DianaHR, an AI-powered HR-as-a-Service platform for SMBs, announced that its founder and CEO, Upeka Bee, has been named to Inc.'s 2026 Female Founders 500 list. The annual list honors the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States, recognizing founders whose bold ideas, resilience, and execution are shaping the future of their industries.

Why it matters

The Inc. Female Founders 500 list celebrates the economic impact of women-led businesses across sectors, highlighting entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable progress. Bee's inclusion on the list underscores the growing influence of women in the HR technology industry and the potential for AI-powered solutions to transform the way small and mid-sized businesses manage their HR functions.

The details

Upeka Bee founded DianaHR with the belief that HR should scale with a company's growth, not slow it down. The platform automates most HR activities, saving SMB owners over 15 hours a week and cutting costs by 60 percent. Each client is assigned a human DianaHR specialist who coordinates service and offers expertise as needed, but most functions are fully automated with DianaHR's AI platform. The company recently secured a $3.7M seed round led by SNR Ventures and has doubled its workforce to meet increasing demand.

  • DianaHR was founded by Upeka Bee, the former Head of Engineering at Gusto HR.
  • DianaHR recently secured a $3.7M seed round led by SNR Ventures.
  • DianaHR has doubled revenue each quarter since the product release.

The players

Upeka Bee

Founder and CEO of DianaHR, a former Head of Engineering at Gusto HR.

DianaHR

An AI-powered HR-as-a-Service platform for SMBs, founded by Upeka Bee.

SNR Ventures

The venture capital firm that led DianaHR's $3.7M seed round.

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What they’re saying

“I founded DianaHR with the belief that HR should scale with a company's growth, not slow it down. Small and mid-sized businesses don't need more dashboards, they need an intelligent layer that works across their existing tools, combining human expertise with autonomous AI agents to get real HR work done. Our mission is to reimagine HR as a service that evolves alongside the business. I'm incredibly honored to be recognized as a recipient of the Inc. 2026 Female Founders Award, and proud to be building a platform that's redefining what modern, scalable HR looks like for SMBs.”

— Upeka Bee, Founder and CEO of DianaHR (GlobeNewswire)

“Each year, we are increasingly amazed by the extraordinary leaders on our Inc. Female Founders 500 list. The honorees on this year's list include innovators in AI, beauty and wellness trendsetters winning devoted fans, and nonprofit leaders making a real impact in their communities. Together, they're showing all of us what trailblazing female leadership looks like.”

— Bonny Ghosh, Editorial director at Inc. (GlobeNewswire)

What’s next

DianaHR continues to innovate, recently launching the industry's first production-grade Agentic Onboarding system, a significant technological leap designed to automate employee onboarding with minimal human involvement.

The takeaway

Upeka Bee's inclusion on the Inc. Female Founders 500 list highlights the growing influence of women in the HR technology industry and the potential for AI-powered solutions to transform the way small and mid-sized businesses manage their HR functions. DianaHR's innovative platform is redefining what modern, scalable HR looks like for SMBs, demonstrating that mission-driven, women-led businesses can drive meaningful change in their industries.