Jobillico, Seek, and eTeki: news of the recruitment marketing industry

Apart from the revenue reports that appear every quarter, it’s been a busy last few weeks in the job board and recruitment marketing industry – especially for Jobillico! We’ve seen some interesting funding raised, a few acquisitions, and a few other developments. Curious? Well, let’s dig in!:

• Recruiter.com acquires Mediabistro, others: Recruiter.com has acquired media jobs board MediaBistro.com, Finalist, a site for pre-vetted candidates, and other assets of technology solutions business from rectech firm Uncubed. The company paid $3.5 million in cash, stock and a promissory note, plus an additional potential earn-out of $1.35 million, according to the Recruiter SEC filing.  With virtual teams of 30,000 recruiters and AI job matching technology, Recruiter.com manages recruitment for companies and helps job-seekers get scouted after registration on the site. Interesting!
• Harris acquires Jobillico: Harris, a global vertical market software provider and acquirer, has acquired Quebec-based employment website, Jobillico. With over 3 million users in Canada, Jobillico supports a network of over 5,000 employers in recruiting top talent using a digital platform that is largely developed and maintained by its Québec City team. Founded in 2010, Jobillico is made up of a team of over 70 human resources technology experts. I did not see this one coming!
• Job.com acquires staffing firms:  Job.com acquired two staffing firms: Fortus Healthcare Resources, which provides direct and travel placement of healthcare professionals; and Endevis, which offers permanent recruitment services, contract staffing and recruitment process outsourcing to the automotive, commercial and manufacturing sectors. Together, the two businesses will add more than $50 million of annual revenue to Job.com’s cash flow, the company said. CEO Paul Sloyan said the two companies complement HireVergence, a cybersecurity staffing firm that Job.com acquired in 2020. Very interesting.
• EqualityCheck raises seed round: Oslo-based Equality Check has raised €1.25 million in a seed round that is expected to further product development and international expansion. The platform sources anonymous reviews from employees and aims to provide better workplaces through increased transparency and accountability. Equality Check’s funding round was led by Alliance Venture with existing investor Antler following on. Several undisclosed angel investors also took part in the raise. I’ll be curious to see how this does.
• ZipRecruiter adds employer reviews:  ZipRecruiter has added new information to its employer pages, including anonymous employee reviews and typical salary ranges, thanks to a new tie-in with Comparably. The new data also offers clues on prospective employers’ culture, workforce diversity, and employment benefits. Founded in 2016, Comparably looks like Glassdoor-Lite. It offers a robust menu of employer insights, but has less of a focus on job listings. Interesting move.
• Pangea raises funds: Pangea, a Providence, Rhode Island-based startup that connects youthful talent and businesses in need of freelance labor, announced this morning that it has closed an oversubscribed $2 million seed round. The startup runs a marketplace that links college-age talent to companies in need of their services. Given the skillset of many college students, social media and web developer work are popular on the Pangea platform. Pangea was “facilitating $50,000 in transactions between college freelancers and businesses” in March 2021. That figure should now be heading toward the $100,000 monthly GMV run-rate threshold. Intriguing.
• AboveBoard also raises funds:  AboveBoard, a U.S.-based recruitment marketplace for senior executives, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by a number of angel investors. Launched in October last year, the startup provides job opportunities for professionals working at the VP level or above. It prides itself as an inclusive talent site that promotes hiring of professionals from underrepresented groups. The company says it has database of 7,000 executives, including 4,000 professionals as members. More than 400 companies use its services. Somehow I missed this site. No more!
• Contact raises seed round: Late last year the Contact platform launched, initially offering models a way to take bookings and manage some aspects of their work. The site has now raised a $1.9 million (£1.4 million) seed round of funding led by Founders Fund. In a radical move for what is an industry dominated by agencies, individuals and businesses can discover and book creators and creative services directly, without going through an agency. Contact says it has onboarded almost 600 creatives and over 1,400 clients. Hmm.
• eTeki goes marketplace: Remember eTeki, the technical hiring platform?  Formerly only available in a managed service model, eTeki’s pay-per-interview marketplace now brings a bench of expert freelancers available to lead IT interviews for hiring teams across the globe. Hiring professionals scope the interview, add a candidate, select one of eTeki’s 6,000+ expert interviewers and confirm an interview time with a credit card. The platform’s proprietary algorithm predicts related freelancers with real-world technical experience available to screen candidates. Good move.
• Seek funds its growth fund:  Seek Ltd. will transfer the bulk of its investments to a new independent fund in a move that the online employment marketplace said should increase capital access for its early stage ventures. The firm said it would transfer assets independently valued at 1.22 billion (US$896.7 million) to the Seek Growth Fund, which will be led by former chief executive Andrew Bassat. The assets comprise Seek’s holdings in Online Education Services and 14 early stage ventures. The fund plans to raise another A$460 million to fund future investments, Seek said. Always thinking ahead.
• JobIndex hits a revenue record:  JobIndex enjoyed a lucrative quarter, as its Q2 revenue reached a record DKK 110 million ($17.3 million U.S.), more than double last year’s Q2 numbers. JobIndex also showed very strong EBITDA growth. The strong growth is in part based on the fact that the job market in Denmark is experiencing a boom in openings. In its quarterly report, JobIndex announced that it will double its marketing budget in the coming months. Congrats!
• Prop 22 ruled unconstitutional: In a blow to Uber, Lyft and other gig worker-centered companies, a superior court judge ruled that California’s Proposition 22, which was passed in 2020 and designed to overrule the state’s controversial AB-5 law on the employment status of gig workers, violates the state’s constitution. The lawsuit was filed by the Service Employees International Union in January, after a similar lawsuit was rebuffed by the California Supreme Court and referred to a lower court. The superior court’s decision is just the latest in a long line of victories and defeats in the battle between companies that heavily rely on gig workers. Wonder where this will end.

Well, that’s a lot, eh? And I didn’t even include iCIMS’s plan to IPO! Oops, well, guess I did. Anyway, acquisitions, funding, and growth continue apace. Wonder what the next four weeks will bring?

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