Cash, Vangst, and Chief: news of the recruitment marketing world

Apparently the Polar Vortex – although causing great misery in the Doctor’s neck of the woods – had no effect on the recruitment marketing industry (or Vangst!). There have been sales, funding rounds, layoffs, and much more. So what happened? Glad you asked:

• Woven launches:  Woven, an Indianapolis software company that helps engineering teams hit hiring goals, has raised over half a million dollars in an early-stage round of funding from a group of investors, including High Alpha Capital.  The company helps their customers run a credentials-blind candidate screening process. Instead of resumes, developers are chosen for interviews based on their performance on a 1-hour software engineering simulation that Woven builds, administers, and summarizes. Interesting times in Indy!
• Chief helps women: Chief, a private network for New York-based women in senior roles in tech, retail, enterprise, finance, media and more, has launched with $3 million in venture capital funding to provide its 200 members access to a Tribeca clubhouse, monthly executive coaching and leadership development sessions and a salon series, which includes “intimate dinners with captains of industry” and celebrity fireside conversations. Chief membership costs $5,400 per year for members with a vice president-level job title and even more for those in the C-suite, at $7,800. Pricey.
• DHI reports Q4 numbers: DHI Holdings, parent company of Dice and ClearanceJobs,  reports that revenues were $38.0 million; ongoing tech-focused revenues were unchanged year over year for the first time in nearly 3 years. ClearanceJobs revenues were $5.7 million, 22% higher year over year, while Dice revenues were $24.0 million, down 4% compared to the prior year period, the third sequential quarter in which this decrease narrowed. In other DHI news, hedge fund TCS Capital Management LLC has decided not to pursue a possible acquisition of DHI. Good news?
• Personio raises funds:  Munich-based startup Personio, an HR and recruiting platform that allows companies to digitize all HR processes across the employee life-cycle, has raised €35 million in a Series B round.  The company targets SMEs, and has more than 1,000 clients in 35 countries already using its platform for their HR and recruiting processes. Impressive.
• Careerbuilder makes some moves: CareerBuilder has acquired Textkernel, a Netherlands-based company specializing in semantic recruitment technology. Through acquiring a majority stake in Textkernel, CareerBuilder is looking to bolster its SaaS HR credentials while also helping Textkernel scale its business globally. The company is also opening a 20,000-square-foot call center and research facility in Winchester, Virginia, in early February, and says the facility will create 250 new jobs. There’s life in the old site yet!
• Craigslist is making more money than you: Craigslist has cracked $1 billion in revenue for the first time since its launch in 1995. An AIM Group analysis of advertising on the site, which charges for ads in just six categories, estimated 2018 revenue at $1.034 billion. Almost 70 percent of its revenue comes from recruitment advertising, with 16 percent from automotive ads and the remainder in services, for-sale, “gigs” and rental ads. All I can say is ‘wow’.
• Monster has layoffs:  According to Monster, over 100 employees will be updating their resumes in hopes of finding a new job. The company has confirmed a reduction of approximately 5 percent of its global workforce, which currently numbers between 1,000 – 5,000, according to their LinkedIn company page. Hiring opportunities for its competitors!
• InfoJobs partners with StackOverflow:  Technical jobs posted on InfoJobs will also be found on Stack Overflow Jobs so long as they meet Stack Overflow’s job quality standards.  InfoJobs is the largest job board in Spain and has been helping people in Spain find jobs for over 20 years. Interesting.
• Shine shines: Shine Interview has developed a recruitment platform that allows companies to interview candidates by video. Founded in 2016, the U.K. startup has secured €400k from the North East Venture Fund. Managers set interview questions online and candidates then record their responses in their own time through their mobile phone.
• Vangst raises cash:  The 70-person company Vangst, which targets the cannabis industry, announced a Series A to the tune of $10 million, raising its grand total to $12.5 million. The financing was led by Casa Verde Capital. The company started as a staffing company, but has added an on-demand gig platform. Heady.
• Vietnamese tech site acquired: Mynavi announced that it has acquired ITVIEC, a leading job search website provider specialized in IT engineers in Vietnam. ITVIEC was founded in 2013 by its CEO & Co-Founder, Christopher Harvey and COO & Co-Founder, Tu Thi Thuy Anh. Congrats to all!
• Jobijoba acquires JAI:  Paris-based recruitment solutions company Jobijoba has acquired JAI (The Jobs Artificial Intelligence), a startup that develops chatbot technologies for recruiters. Jobijoba plans to integrate JAI’s product into its offering.  In July 2018, Jobijoba was acquired by HelloWork. Interesting indeed.
• Hired acquires Py: Hired.com acquired candidate assessment and screening firm Py. San Francisco-based Py has more than 500,000 users and is based in San Francisco. Terms of the transaction were not announced. Py’s workers are joining Hired effective immediately, including founder Deker Lo. Plans call for Py for Work to be branded as Hired Assessments — it includes online coding quizzes and challenges, real-world projects and a “live code” environment where hiring managers can track candidates’ results. Sounds like a smart move.

Wow! A lot happens in a few weeks, eh? I’ll be back with more next month.

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