How are things going so far in investment this year? Q2 looked like it was going to be a blockbuster, and it delivered to the tune of almost $2.1 billion in investment, bringing the total investment for the year to a little under $3.8 billion, which is close to matching last year’s $4.009 billion.
If no more investment happens in 2019, it would still be the second best year on record. Since the beginning the current work software bull market in 2014, $17.575 billion has been invested.
Key Fundraising Events in Q2 2019
- SoFi raises $500 million. The company disclosed that the new capital valued the company at $4.3 billion, pre-money. On a post-money basis, the SoFi is now worth over $4.8 billion. (Crunchbase)
- Collective Health raises $205 million Series E from SoftBank. The six-year-old SF health tech startup includes users such as Zendesk, Pinterest, and Uber.
- Thumbtack raises $120 million on flat valuation. The online services marketplace that matches customers with nearby professionals is raising up to $120 million in Series H shares. At more than 10 years old, the business has previously raised nearly $300 million in a combination of debt and equity funding. The upcoming round comes at a flat valuation to its 2015 Series G funding of $125 million, which valued Thumbtack at $1.3 billion. (TechCrunch)
- French HCM player HR Path raises $113 million Series C. If you thought PeopleDoc’s big payday from Ultimate was an anomaly, think again. French work software companies are coming to play. (HR Technologist)
- Coursera raises $103 million Series E. A brand-new unicorn out of the learning space. (VentureBeat)
- BetterUp lands $103 million Series C. The San Francisco-based career and leadership development solution fosters purpose and passion within the workplace (TechCrunch). Worth noting, they are a Workday Ventures partner (Press Release). As if it was bad enough that Workday is outselling competitors, now they’re out-investing them.
- Deskera gets $100 million. Singapore-based HR tech company gets $100 million. (DealStreetAsia.com)
French payroll outfit PayFit raises $78.517 million. You know we said about France above? Again. Why the odd amount? We suspect the metric system. (EU Startups) - Degreed raises $75 million. Here’s the math: $35 million in an equity round of funding from Owl Ventures, Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures, GSV Accelerate, and Alliance Bernstein. The company also raised $40 million in debt financing from Alliance Bernstein Growth Stage Capital. (VentureBeat)
- Criteria Corp raises $56 million. LA-based SaaS based employment analytics platform announced that Sumeru Equity Partners (SEP) has made a strategic investment to accelerate product innovation and growth. (VentureBeat)
- SmartRecruiters gets $50 million. The company plans to double down on its investments across AI and machine learning, as well as expanding operations in Europe and Asia. (VentureBeat)
- Rippling raises $45 million Series B. Parker Conrad is back with a compelling angle (Single Sign-on) and some blistering growth. (Techcrunch)
- AllyO raises $45 million Series B. The fresh funds bring the Bay Area AI recruitment platform’s total raised to $64 million. AllyO grew 4.5 times in the past year, and they expect that the company’s candidate-matching suite will be used by as many as 15% of Americans in 2020. (VentureBeat)
- 360Learning secures $41 million Series B. Another super-hot French company posting impressive growth. (Press Release)
- SF-based Triplebyte gets $35 million. They match engineers and employers. (VentureBeat)
- Immedis gets €25 million. They’re an Irish-based international payroll player. (Press Release)
- Seattle-based Karat gets $28 million for engineering jobs online platform. Total raised is $41 million. (TechCrunch)
- Open Sesame raises $28 million. Portland, Ore.-based learning marketplace will use money to fuel growth. (GeekWire)
- Eightfold raises $28 million. Mountain View-based AI job matching platform gets big Series C. Guess they think they are onto something. (VentureBeat)
- Chicago-based Hireology raises $27 million. (Built in Chicago)
- NYC’s Chief gets $22 million. This private network for women who are senior business leaders offers opportunities for career advancement through a mix of curated opportunities focused on education, an in-person space, programming, and events. (Alley Watch)
- Robin raises $20 million Series B. This employee experience app hooks into Google Calendar and Outlook to help employees get a sense of what meeting rooms and activity spaces are available in the office, complete with tablet signage out front. The company also offers tools for seating charts and office maps, as well as insights. (TechCrunch)
- Instawork raises $18 million. This app posts shifts for chefs, event servers, housekeepers, and other positions its customers need to fill quickly (within hours if necessary), which vetted professionals book at their leisure. (VentureBeat)
- Innovapptive raises $16.3 million Series A. Houston-based connected workforce platform for asset-intensive industries should spend some of that money on a re-name, IMO. (Press Release)
- Lattice raises $15 million. SF-based next-gen performance tool gets a bump. (Press Release)
- Sense gets a $13.5 million Series B. SF-based company is an employee experience platform for contractors/gig workers (Crunchbase).
- Berlin-based HeyJobs nets $12 million Series A. (TechCrunch)
- Credly raises $11 million. NY-based digital credentialing company gets a big Series A. (VentureBeat)
- Leapwork snags $10 million Series A. Leapwork eases process automation for companies everywhere. (PE Hub)
- Zippia raises $8.5 million Series A. A San Mateo-based tool for job seekers to build career pathways. (Press Release)
- Spur raises $8 million. This Huntsville, Ala., startup gets a Series A for its hospitality industry-focused solution. (VentureBeat)
- WorkRamp raises $8 million Series A. SF-based onboarding and training platform enables companies to create and share their own employee training content. (Forbes)
- Enboarder raises $8 million. The Austin startup gets $8 million to onboard new employees. (VentureBeat)
- SF’s Fellow.app gets $6.5 million seed round. Also announces first customer: Shopify. (Press Release)
- MentorclIQ gets $6.3 million. This Columbus, Ohio-based software company is in the middle of a white-hot market opportunity. Recent research from our team demonstrates strong market affinity for mentoring solutions, as well as a strong connection to engagement. (Press Release)
- Seekout raises $6 million Series A. Another Seattle-based talent acquisition company. (Press Release)
- Interplay Learning lands $5.5 million Series A. Austin-based online training firm for skilled trades utilizing virtual reality and 3D simulations to add talent, expand customer success team, pursue additional markets and develop new platform features. (Press Release)
- PeopleGrove raises $4.7 million Series A. SF-based company is an online platform that connects students with alumni and mentors before, during, and after university. (Press Release)
- Vault Platform raises $4.2 million in seed round. London-based startup seeks to reimagine workplace misconduct reporting. (Press Release)
- Hungarian HR tech startup Talentuno raises €4 million. (Press Release)
- Northpass raises $4 million. NYC-area next-gen learning platform gets a boost. (Press Release)
- Careerlist raises $3.7 million. Seed round for NYC-based recruiting startup. (Press Release)
- Engage Talent raises $3.5 million. Charleston, S.C., company focuses on AI-based talent intelligence. (Press Release)
- HCM Deck gets €2.8 million. A Krakow, Poland-based employee development analysis startup (EU Startups).
- Japanese HR startup raises $3 million. Recruitment tech startup is called Grooves. (TechInAsia)
- Workhound gets $1.5 million. (WorkHound Blog)
- Howamigoing gets £1.1 million. London-based HR tech startup has another take on performance management. (Businesscloud)
- Brightfox gets $1.1 million. Interesting NYC startup — “a talent experience platform.” (HRTechnologist)
- PredictiveHR raises $1 million. The Boston workforce analytics AI startup gets angel round. (Press Release)
- Payscale gets PE investment, $325 million valuation. Seattle-based comp firm achieving slow, steady growth, but need help in the mid-market. (Geekwire)
Key Acquisitions in Workplace Software
- Salesforce pays $15.7 billion for Tableau. In its largest M&A deal to date, SFDC adds data visualization to its portfolio in a big way. The purchase price provides a huge premium over Tableau’s last market cap, which was around $10.8 billion on Friday. (Crunchbase)
- HCM leader Paycor acquires Ximble Scheduling, filling in some time-and-attendance gaps in their platform. (Press Release)
- iCIMS acquires Jibe. Terms were not announced. Jibe drives front-end candidate experience, including Google-optimized career sites, as well as providing recruiters candidate relationship management (CRM) solutions. (Press Release)
- WeWork buys Managed by Q. The NYC startup founded in 2014 offers a platform that office tenants can use to hire service providers such as cleaning crews, receptionists, or IT support staff. CNN reported that WeWork paid $200 to $250 million for these guys, about two times what Q had raised. (CFO.com)
- Learning Technologies Group acquires Breezy HR. LTG bought PeopleFluent in 2018. This boosts its SMB HCM reach. (Benzinga)
- Absorb Software acquires Torch LMS. Calgary-based Absorb Software acquires the Utah-based SaaS LMS provider, the first of what the company anticipates will be several future acquisitions. (Press Release)
