Forget MySpace and Facebook, sometimes companies such as JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, and Deloitte want to get in on the social networking craze.

Enter corporate social networking company SelectMinds, which on Tuesday announced a Series A funding round of $5.5 million from Bessemer Venture Partners. Bessemer has invested in other communications and social media companies such as Skype, LinkedIn, Wikia, and Revver.

New York-based SelectMinds “helps organizations become better connected and strengthen relationships among employees, alumni, women and other key constituencies,” said Bessemer Venture Partners Managing Partner Robert Goodman in a statement. Mr. Goodman will also join the company’s board of directors.

SelectMinds, founded in 2000, gears its software toward mid-to-large size organizations such as global 2000 companies, and focuses on what a company spokesperson described as the "employee life cycle." That is, on hiring and retaining employees and institutional knowledge as employees reach different stages in their lives.

WomenConnect, one of the networks created by SelectMinds, helps companies stay in contact with female employees when they’re out on maternity leave, for example. EmployeeConnect is designed for all of the workers in an organization.

Employees of companies that use SelectMinds’ software can build profiles, communicate through emails and forums, collaborate to develop new ideas, post and respond to classified ads, and search and apply for jobs in or beyond the company network.

Last week The Dow Chemical Company signed up as a SelectMinds client. Dow will use the social networking platform to create networks for employees, alumni, and retirees.

Several other companies focus on social networking for the enterprise, including Foster City, California-based Visible Path and San Francisco-based Leverage Software.