The Latest from the Talent Tech Industry
May 24-30, 2021: BrightHire, an interview intelligence platform, snares $12.5M in series A to help recruiting teams run “consistent and evidence-based” hiring processes; ZipRecruiter debuts with direct listing on NYSE at $18 a share price giving the site a valuation of $2.4B; Blind, an anonymous professional network, raises $37M in series C to add recruitment to its career advice and workplace gossip messaging; Jumpstart rebrands as Canvas and raises $20M to build a diversity recruitment platform and help “CEOs and hiring managers to truly walk the walk” in DE&I; Employers intensify use of questions to assess vaccination and Covid-19 status of job applicants, but legal issues could arise; Crypto markets lose $1 trillion in value in one week leading some to describe the currency as “dead” or at least “nutso;” plus TA Tech NewZ Makers: Spiro Papanicolaou, Mike Pauletich, Keith Remling, Holland McCue, and Keith Burgess.
BrightHire Snares $12.5M in Series A
BrightHire, an interview intelligence platform, announced $12.5M in new funding led by Index Ventures. The Series A was led by Index Ventures and includes investments from Next Play Ventures, the fund founded by LinkedIn Executive Chairman and former CEO Jeff Weiner; and angel investors Laszlo Bock and Rosanna Durruthy. Existing investors, including Flybridge Capital and Ground Up Ventures, also participated. BrightHire builds performance optimization technology for recruiting teams. Built with seamless integrations into Zoom and leading Applicant Tracking Systems, BrightHire helps teams run a consistent and evidence-based hiring process. The platform guides, captures and analyzes and easily shares interviews equipping hiring managers to make fair and fully informed hiring decisions.
ZipRecruiter Given $18 a Share Reference Price by NYSE
ZipRecruiter Inc. was assigned a reference price of $18 a share for what will be the fourth major direct listing of the year on a U.S. exchange. The job search and recruiting company’s shares are set to begin trading Wednesday without the company raising any capital. The reference price issued Tuesday by the New York Stock Exchange is intended merely as a guide for investors and to allow trading to begin. If the company does trade near its reference price, it would have a fully diluted valuation of about $2.4 billion based on the shares listed in a statement. The company’s Class B shares were trading privately during the first quarter at $9 apiece, according to the filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Blind Raises $37M to Blend Workplace Gossip, Career Advice, and Recruiting. What Could Go Wrong?
Blind, the anonymous professional network, announced a $37 million Series C round of venture capital to move its platform toward career advice and recruiting. This brings its total raised to $61.8 million. Blind gives users an anonymous network, which presents like a message board, to communicate about their workplace. Co-founder and GM Kyum Kim told TechCrunch that usage spiked during COVID and the work from home surge, especially with employees of tech firms. Kim is hoping to harness what’s communicated by employees anonymously to offer aggregate insights to employers. Blind is also looking to offer employers hiring connections to users who express intent to leave, bringing Blind into recruiting. Today, the company has a free and extremely rudimentary job board – basically a collaborative Airtable to post jobs manually. As you read that “Blind is building what it calls “Talent by Blind,” a platform for capturing this hiring intentionality and selling it to recruiters.” You can’t help but wonder if that play might cause resentment with Blind’s anonymous users. It’s a tightrope walk they’ll have to manage.
Jumpstart Rebrands as Canvas; Closes $20M to Build World's First Diversity Recruitment Platform
Jumpstart, the world's first Diversity Recruitment Platform (DRP) with a mission to make the world more equitable, announced today that the company is rebranding as Canvas. The company also announced $20 million in new funding, led by Lachy Groom and Sequoia Capital with participation from Four Rivers Capital. "We have finally entered an era where companies are being held accountable for their promises of equity and hiring diverse talent," said Ben Herman, CEO of Canvas. "Canvas is the only platform that helps CEOs and hiring managers to truly walk the walk on diversity, equity and inclusion. Hiring diverse teams is not only a matter of corporate social responsibility, diversity and inclusion are a competitive advantage and strategic priority for every company in today's landscape.
Can Employers Ask Job Applicants About Vaccination and COVID-19?
More employers are asking job applicants about their COVID-19 vaccination status as they try to protect co-workers and customers. But before you add this to your list of interview questions, know that there are legal limits to such questions. Employers that are asking these questions need to make sure they're doing so appropriately. Andrew Maunz, an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Pittsburgh, said, "Determining any type of term or condition of employment based on vaccination status is going to open up a lot of legal issues for employers, so they need to think very carefully about why the person's vaccination status is relevant."
Is Crypto Dead?
For crypto speculators, newbies, and “get rich quick” thrillseekers, last week was tough. The Chinese government re-signaled its displeasure with bitcoin and all things crypto, the IRS announced it is going to do what it can to tax every possible crypto transaction, and Elon tweeted, scaring the hell out of people who pay attention to him. Panic ensued. When it was over, Wednesday’s crypto crash vaporized about $1 trillion of market value. The currency may be virtual, but for those who sold at a loss, the losses were real. And while the market came back a bit after the crash, this rollercoaster ride is getting even more extreme. Which is why it is no surprise that so many well-respected businesspeople and financial experts chose this past week to declare that crypto is “valueless,” or “nutso,” or “dead.” But think about this…
TA Tech NewZ Makers
Randstad North America has named Spiro Papanicolaou as Chief Marketing Officer. Previously, he was Managing Director Randstad Technologies US.
Mike Pauletich has joined Recruitology as Vice President HR Technology Partnerships. Previously, he was VP Global Alliances & Partnerships at Mya Systems.
Keith Remling has been appointed Vice President of Professional Services and Holland McCue has been appointed Director of Hiring Success at SmartRecruiters. Prior to these roles, Remling was AVP for Global Operations at Cornerstone OnDemand, while McCue was Sr. Manager Strategic Sourcing and Talent Marketing at Delta Airlines.
Keith Burgess was appointed SLED Leader – Sales & Biz Development at Eightfold.ai.