Curated Intel from the Talent Tech Industry
April 15-21, 2024:
• Adding a bit of cash to the billfold: CV Wallet raises $0.5 million in angel investment round;
• Buying back stock: Israel-based Fiverr announces $100M share repurchase program;
• Arguing over definitions: EEOC files amicus brief in job seeker AI bias lawsuit against Workday;
• Building a suite of worktech solutions: QuantumWork Advisory acquires Talent Tech Labs;
• High volume sales recruiting solution: Take2 AI raises $3M for real-world simulations with genAI.
PLUS
Seats are going fast at TAtech North America & The World Job Board Forum. Avoid FOMO, register right now for the only conference in the North American market that is specifically designed both for job board and talent technology company CEOs, their direct reports and rising stars and to accelerate the bottom-line growth of their enterprises. Why the rush? Because the conference will be held June 4-6, 2024 at The International Spy Museum which has a limited seating capacity. So, register today and accelerate the success your company achieves, today, tomorrow and into the future!
CV Wallet raises $0.5 million in angel investment round
London-based CV Wallet, the verification ecosystem that creates trust at the heart of the hiring process by uniquely combining its SaaS-based verification platform for employers, career management App for jobseekers and Ad Exchange for partners, has raised $0.5 million in an angel investment round. This values the business at over $13 million, double the previous round; and brings total funding, to date, to just over $2 million. The raise was oversubscribed and completed in just 48 hours from existing investors. The round, in response to rapid revenue growth, follows the launch of its first commercial products at the beginning of March, a SaaS-based verification platform and its AdExchange. The monies raised will be used to bring forward its hiring plan to cope with demand as the business shifts from start-up mode to scale-up. Commenting on the funding, Richard Collins, Co-founder of CV Wallet, said: “ We only needed to do a small round as we are rapidly heading towards profitability but wanted to feel comfortable bringing forward our hiring plan in light of the exceptional revenue growth. We are incredibly fortunate to have such supportive shareholders from our ClickIQ days, which allowed us to complete the round very quickly and not be distracted with time out of the business spent raising monies”.
Fiverr Announces Board Authorization of $100 Million Share Repurchase Program
Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE: FVRR), the company that is changing how the world works together, announced that on April 1, 2024, its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program, under which the company may repurchase up to $100 million of its ordinary shares. “We are pleased to announce the authorization of our first-ever stock repurchase program. This program reflects our confidence in the long-term opportunity for Fiverr and our commitment to creating shareholder value,” said Ofer Katz, Fiverr’s President and CFO. “We have built a healthy balance sheet enabling us to continue to invest in our strategic initiatives while also returning capital to shareholders. We believe that our current stock price represents an attractive opportunity for a repurchase." According to Israeli Law the company’s creditors may apply to the company and object to the share repurchase program until May 4, 2024, in which case, the share repurchase program will be subject to a court approval. In the event no such objection is filed, the share repurchase program will become effective.
EEOC Seeks to Jump into Job Seeker’s AI Bias Lawsuit: New Technology Scares It
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has now argued in an amicus (i.e. “friend of the court”) brief on behalf of a rejected jobseeker that his amended complaint had sufficiently pled that Workday, Inc., is subject to federal anti-discrimination laws as an “employment agency,” “indirect employer,” or an “agent” of employers. The case is Mobley v. Workday, Inc. (No. 3:23-cv-00770). In February, we reported that the potential lead plaintiff in the case, who seeks class action certification, filed an amended complaint alleging that Workday violated federal anti-discrimination laws by providing companies with algorithm-based applicant screening, or “AI” (“Artificial Intelligence”) tools that discriminated against him and other similarly situated job applicants based on race, age, and disability. The plaintiff claimed that, as an African American man over the age of forty with anxiety and depression, he applied to 80 to 100 jobs with companies that use Workday’s screening tools and did not receive a single job offer. On March 12, Workday filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, asserting that the company is not covered by the statutes at issue – of Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act – because it merely screens job seekers rather than procuring them. Title VII gives the Commission the authority to commence or intervene in litigation against private-sector employers to enforce the nation’s employment discrimination laws. On Tuesday, the EEOC asked the court for permission to file its amicus brief. On Thursday, Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District for the Northern District of California (San Francisco) set a May 7, 2024, hearing date to address the EEOC’s request.
QuantumWork Advisory acquires Talent Tech Labs
Exciting News from QuantumWork Advisory! We're thrilled to announce that we have acquired Talent Tech Labs, the leading workforce technology research firm in the world. This strategic initiative move cements our leadership in revolutionizing talent acquisition and management. We are excited by the enormous untapped synergies between QuantumWork Advisory and Talent Tech Labs. The move to increase the stake in TTL will uniquely position us to provide clients with a complete suite of workforce and WorkTech solutions, delivering unmatched value to our clients and setting new standards in the industry.” At QuantumWork Advisory, we're driven by innovation and our dedication to delivering comprehensive, cutting-edge talent solutions. This collaboration with Talent Tech Labs is more than an expansion—it's a commitment to excellence and future-forward thinking. Together, we're not just part of the industry—we're redefining it. Here's to building the future of talent technology, side by side. Stay tuned as we continue to evolve and elevate the world of work. The best is yet to come!
Take2 AI Raises $3M Seed Round Led by Reach Capital & SemperVirens
Based in New York, Take2 AI is on a mission to reinvent how companies recruit talent for high volume sales roles, which account for roughly 14% of all jobs in the U.S. Employers spend countless hours reviewing applications and struggle to effectively vet the viability of candidates. This results in very high short-term attrition: one in three salespeople churn each year, 3x more than any other occupation. Take2 AI is solving this problem by generating tailor-made simulations of real-world sales scenarios that help vet job applicants for skills, behavioral attributes and culture fit. By leveraging generative AI, Take2 AI recreates company and role specific sales scenarios that not only immerse job applicants in the role, but also provide high-signal performance data to employers - a game changer for high-volume sales roles. The two founders, Kaushik Narasimhan and Yaniv Shimoni, met at Stanford Graduate School of Business and have deep expertise building and scaling sales teams. They started Take2 AI based on insights from research on skills-based hiring they conducted at Stanford University.
Register Today While Seats Are Still Available at TAtech North America
Seats are going fast at TAtech North America & The World Job Board Forum. Avoid FOMO, register right now for the only conference in the North American market that is specifically designed both for job board and talent technology company CEOs, their direct reports and rising stars and to accelerate the bottom-line growth of their enterprises. Why the rush? Because the conference will be held June 4-6, 2024 at The International Spy Museum which has a limited seating capacity. Whether your company is a niche or general job board, aggregator, talent marketplace, online classifieds business, programmatic platform, chatbot, conversational AI solution, ATS, recruitment marketing solution, CRM platform, interviewing or assessment system or talent technology consultancy, this event will supercharge your sales and your profits. So, register today and accelerate the success your company achieves, today, tomorrow and into the future!