Curated Intel from the Talent Tech Industry
October 25-31, 2021:
• Seed funding has exploded in the past 10 years with even the largest VC firms participating;
• Greenhouse buys Insteller to add sourcing to the Greenhouse CRM;
• Ladder, a professional community platform, announced its new mobile app & a raise of $3.7M in funding;
• First Denmark sent an ambassador to Silicon Valley, now Ireland is appointing an AI Ambassador;
• interviewIA launches freemium Smart Interview software to address the current talent shortage.
PLUS
• A Shout Out to TA Though Leaders. We’re pleased to recognize once more some of this year’s TAtech Top 100 Most Influential Thought Leaders: @ChrisHyams, @JohnWhalin, @CandeeChambers, @GergoVari, @NatashaSmith – thanks for your contributions to talent acquisition!
• The TAtech Talent Technology Buyer’s Guide is a one-of-a-kind resource for recruiters. The only database available to talent acquisition teams that features solution providers with both state-of-the-art products and business practices they can count on.
How Seed Funding Has Exploded In The Past 10 Years
Seed-stage funding to startups has exploded in the past decade and become an asset class of its own. If that wasn’t obvious already, consider that in just the past few months, three of Silicon Valley’s largest and best-known venture firms—Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock and Khosla Ventures—all announced large new dedicated seed funds. To visualize this dramatic change in the venture ecosystem and understand how much seed investment grew in the past 10 years, we decided to look at the number of U.S. startups that were funded over various five-year time frames and at different stages. Crunchbase data underscores an impressive rise in funding to the smallest startups: Fewer than 3,200 companies received seed funding in the period between 2006 and 2010. A decade later, that had ballooned to more than 23,000 startups.
Greenhouse buys Insteller to add sourcing to the Greenhouse CRM
Greenhouse, the hiring software company, announced it has acquired sourcing automation provider, Interseller. The acquisition enables Greenhouse customers to do their talent sourcing from within Greenhouse, using powerful data enrichment, email deliverability and candidate outreach tools. "The world of work has been disrupted; how companies find and hire top talent has changed with it," said Daniel Chait, Greenhouse co-founder and CEO. "Top talent have more choices than ever, and companies need to actively prospect, pursue and poach talent just to stay competitive. Leaders want to hire diverse teams, but they lack the ability to build a pipeline of talent from diverse or non-traditional backgrounds. The modern recruiter needs more effective tools for highly targeted and thoughtful outreach. That's where Interseller comes in. Interseller's technology gives our customers the ability to actively diversify their talent pool and poach the best candidates anywhere in the world."
Ladder Announces $3.7 Million In Funding Led By Forerunner With Participation From Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six
Ladder, the next-gen professional community platform, announced the launch of its new mobile app and raise of $3.7 million in funding from Forerunner Ventures, Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six, Pear VC, Scribble Ventures, and Script Capital. Notable angel investors include Tony Xu (CEO of DoorDash), Josh Buckley (CEO of Product Hunt), Harry Stebbings (20VC), Matthew Dellavedova (NBA Player), Josh Elman, and executives from a16z, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Uber, and Robinhood. On Ladder, members can join professional communities, consume high-quality career content, engage in fun discussions, land their dream job, and form meaningful relationships with peers and mentors. The platform aims to become the go-to professional social network for Gen Z. Ladder features three core pillars: Communities, Content & Connections.
First Denmark sent an ambassador to Silicon Valley, now Ireland is appointing an AI Ambassador
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment invites applications for expressions of interest from suitably qualified individuals for the position of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ambassador. As outlined in the National AI Strategy: AI – Here for Good, the AI Ambassador will promote awareness among the public and businesses of the potential that AI offers, serving as a champion of AI as a positive force for the economy and society, and emphasising an ethical approach. The AI ambassador will be a member of the Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum and will be supported in their work by the Forum and by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The AI Ambassador will lead a national conversation around the role of AI in our lives, emphasising an ethical and compliant approach.
interviewIA Launches Freemium Smart Interview Software to Address the Current Talent Shortage
interviewIA — an interview platform that empowers interviewers to quickly build and deliver more effective interviews and more efficient hiring decisions — has launched its new free and paid team subscription model to put better interviewing in everyone's hands. interviewIA fills an urgent need to help all interviewers quickly deliver consistent, non-biased interviews driven by structure and real-time analytics to hire the right person, especially when that right talent is hard to find in our current workforce. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic inequalities, and economic uncertainty has seen employees now choosing to leave their current employers in what has been dubbed "The Great Resignation." According to Business Insider, 15 million people have left their jobs since April. This might have to do with the fact that, according to a recent survey conducted by Moneypenny, only 7% of Americans believe they are in their dream career, which mean more people are looking for great work. For organizations that are embracing the changing future of interviewing and hiring, and who are dedicated to improving their talent acquisition processes to address the current workforce, interviews that connect with candidates are a crucial part of the solution, especially when 68% of candidates think the hiring process reflects how a company treats its employees.
A Talent Technology Buyer’s Guide Recruiters Can Count On
There are a bazillion talent technology companies out there, offering all kinds of recruiting products. How do recruiters know which are credible and worth your consideration? They turn to the TAtech Talent Technology Buyer’s Guide. This database only lists organizations that have great talent technology AND ascribe to the TAtech Code of Ethics. That makes it a unique resource that recruiters can count on to feature solution providers with BOTH state-of-the-art talent acquisition products and the highest standard of business practices!