Ferretly, Prepper, and Recruitroo: news of the job board industry

Hmm – Ferretly, Prepper, and Recruitroo seem to indicate a resurgence in slightly silly names in our industry. At least I think so. Last time around we saw news from Jobindex and this time we get some more news from them. So let’s dig into the latest:

• Appcast acquires Bayard: Appcast, a provider of programmatic job advertising, acquired recruitment marketing firm Bayard Advertising. The combined company will serve more than 2,000 customers across the US and 10 international markets. Plans call for Bayard’s staff and operations to integrate into Appcast by the end of 2023. Congrats, everyone!
• Alma Media acquires Vrabotuvanje Online: Finland-based media company Alma Media, which operates a number of job boards, announced its subsidiary Alma Career has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Vrabotuvanje Online, a North Macedonian online job board. Tau Online, part of the Alma Media Group, already owns 30% of the company, so Vrabotuvanje Online will become fully owned by the Alma Media Group. Vrabotuvanje Online’s net sales were €500,000 in 2022. Congrats!
• Indeed expands PPA: Indeed is “finalizing our plans for additional market expansion” after rolling out pay-for-performance in France this week, following launches in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Pay-per-started-application, a somewhat different pricing structure for large employers, will go live this weekend in France. It’s already rolled out in nine countries — the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Australia and India. Under the new structures, Indeed sets a spending limit of 1,000 “in their local currency” for employers who do not set a custom limit, either higher or lower than 1,000 dollars / euros / rupees etc. I will be curious to see how this is received.
• Jobindex sells its Norweigian site: Jobindex has sold its Norwegian job site to a Finnish job site.  With the sale of Norwegian Jobbsafari, the Jobindex group ends its activities in the other Scandinavian countries. The buyer is Duunitori, Finland’s largest recruitment site. Kaare Danielsen, director of Jobindex, said “At Jobindex, we have previously decided to gather all our efforts to develop the opportunities for Danish jobseekers and companies, so it is a win-win situation. I am happy that Duunitori is giving the Norwegian platform a good home and new growth.” Interesting.
• Ferretly raises funds: AI-powered social media screening SaaS startup company Ferretly (what a name!) has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Ferretly does employee background checks for companies, helping them eliminate what the company calls, “blind spots” in hiring by assessing candidates’ online personas. It uses AI to help companies align candidate character to company and corporate values. Interesting – but I would change the name!
• Sequoia releases Atlas: VC firm Sequoia has released Atlas, an interactive guide to the European tech talent landscape. Atlas meshes various qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, including a talent survey of 1,035 participants; a survey of 125 recruiters from European tech companies; 17 “in-depth” interviews with founders and recruiters; and aggregated data from third-party sources. Users can also drill down into specific hubs and see what the lay of the land is in terms of volume of engineers; primary and secondary skills; percentage of female engineers; number of accelerators; and the “tech ecosystem value.” Intriguing.
• Adzuna launches Prepper: Adzuna has releases its AI-powered tool Prepper. The tool allows jobseekers to prepare for job interviews by generating questions likely to be asked based on information from the job ad, as well as coaching them on how best to respond, changing the game for interviewees. Based on over 10 years of labour market data, the AI tool is built on a large language model (LLM), using in-built prompts to generate and review interview questions and model answers. Interesting – but not so sure about the name on this one, either.
• Comeet merges with Spark Hire: New York City-based collaborative recruitment software provider Comeet is merging Illinois-based video interview platform Spark Hire. The companies have a combined client base of more than 7,000 companies. After the merger, both brands will continue to operate separately. The merged entity will offer a comprehensive suite of talent acquisition products, including applicant tracking, candidate management and video interviewing. Congrats to both!
• Humanly raises funds: Humanly, a Seattle startup that helps companies automate their recruiting functions, raised $12 million to help fuel growth of its AI-powered software. The company is investing heavily in its short message service (SMS) chatbots that interact with job candidates. Humanly’s chatbot is trained on more than three years of the company’s hiring data, helping it respond to specific questions by job candidates. Interesting.
• Aviation Job Search launches video product: Aviation Job Search has launched Culture Capture – custom videography services that showcase and promote an employer’s unique company culture.  The service includes on-site filming and interviews, b-roll footage, professional video editing and sound, and a selection of long- and short-form videos. Sounds a bit like TheMuse!
• DEI hiring platform Joonko closed:  Joonko, a hiring platform focused on DEI, was shut down after  Joonko’s board of directors said the company’s results had been manufactured, and much of what founder and CEO Ilit Raz reported to them “had no basis in reality.” Joonko’s AI-driven platform identified and matched suitable candidates to suitable roles. The investors’ investigation revealed that Raz had been reporting an inflated number of customers. Hmm.
• Recruitroo lands funding:  Irish start-up Recruitroo raised 1 million Euros in new funding. The platform uses AI and automation capabilities to process all documents and applications for employment permits and visas ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The team also added Andreea Wade as Chair of the Board – Wade’s recruitment company Opening.io was acquired by ICIMS in 2020, and she is currently VP of Product Strategy at ICIMS. Congrats (but the name…)!
• Monster.fr promotes PPA: France’s Monster.fr, which introduced pay for performance options in 2022, is now refining and promoting its PPA options as well. Monster.fr offers an ‘Apply Start’ model as well as a ‘Cost per completed application’ model. These models are reserved for companies that recruit regularly. For smaller businesses, they offer a classic Pay-per-Click (CPC) performance model. Interesting.
• Teal acquires OwnTrail: Miami-based career platform Teal is taking over Seattle-based social platform OwnTrail for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2019, Teal describes itself as a “personal career growth platform that gives you the tools, skills, and recommendations you need to accelerate your career, starting with the job search.” OwnTrail, founded in 2020, calls itself “the platform to visualize your path through life, then make that vision a reality.” It offers tools and a community to help mid-career workers achieve personal and professional milestones. Congrats!

Geez! No summer slowdown this year, and the invasion of generative AI continues, as you can see. What’s next? More Ferretly news? I don’t know – but I’ll find out in a month!

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