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HR Tech Funding - $100 Million Dollar Darlings of VC

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UPDATED as of JANUARY 2022

We are living in the golden age of HR technology. Companies everywhere are rushing to upgrade their old, stale and lackluster recruitment and HR systems with a suite of modern platforms that offer a better ROI and user experience.

Investors have seen this trend and have begun pouring money into startups at a record pace.

Last year I wrote this, Phenom, the talent experience management platform received a whopping $100 Million Dollar Series D funding round valuing them at 1.3 billion. The newest is HiBob which itself just secured $150 Million in a Series C round.

So that got me wondering.

Which HR tech startups have received the biggest ever funding rounds?

According to my research, dozens of companies (and counting) have received $100 million or more in a single funding round (most occurring in the past 2 years). This kind of capital indicates where investors are placing their bets in this HR tech arms race. 

Here they are in alphabetical order. (recently updated)

  1. Alan (France) / $227M / Employer Health Insurance tech platform.

  2. Beamery / $138M / Talent Operating System

  3. Betterup / $125M + $300M / Personalized coaching, content, and care.

  4. Coursera / $103M / Online learning & courses.

  5. Culture Amp / $100M / Employee Feedback - Surveys

  6. DailyPay / $175M / Daily payments provider for the enterprise.

  7. Deel / $156M + $425M / Global payroll platform.

  8. Degreed / $153 / Online learning, upskilling.

  9. Eightfold / $125M / AI recruiting software.

  10. Gem (.com) / $100M / CRM and candidate nurturing platform.

  11. Ginger / $100M / Mental health benefits, coaching/therapists.

  12. Lattice / $200M / People management platform.

  13. Lyra Health / $110M / Mental health benefits, coaching/therapists.

  14. Handshake / $200M / Early career, college recruitment marketplace.

  15. HiBob / $150M / Human Resources software.

  16. HR Path / $100M euros / Provides human capital management technology.

  17. Jobcase / $100M / Hourly job board network.

  18. Job&Talent / $108M / On-demand staffing marketplace.

  19. Nexthink / $180M / Digital employee experience platform.

  20. Papaya Global / $100M / Human capital management technology.

  21. Paradox / $200M / Conversational AI Chatbot

  22. Payfit / $107M / Payroll and HR software.

  23. PayActiv / $100M / Financial wellness platform.

  24. Personio / $125M / HR platform for SMB’s.

  25. Phenom / $100M / Talent experience management/recruiting software.

  26. Remote.com / $150M / International payroll, employer of record platform.

  27. Rigup / $300M / Now called ‘Workrise’. Skilled labor recruitment marketplace.

  28. Rippling / $145M / Manage payroll, benefits, devices, apps—in one place.

  29. Seekout / $115M / AI-powered Talent 360 platform.

  30. SmartRecruiters / $110M / Recruiting software - ATS

  31. Visier / $125M / People analytics platform.

  32. Wonolo / $138M / Temp staffing platform for hourly workers.

  33. When I Work / $200M / Hourly worker messaging and scheduling app.

  34. Zenefits / $500M / HR software. Funding happened in 2015.

  35. Ziprecruiter / $156M / Job board marketplace.

So the stage is set for these companies to dominate for years to come. These HR tech ‘unicorns’ are the new darlings, and the ones to watch.

NOTE: Greenhouse and Jobvite were both acquired in deals by a PE firm therefore technically were not funding rounds. They were acquired for $500M and $200M respectively.

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