Market Watch for Talent & HR Aug 2022

Executive Summary

Despite technology layoffs, the HR Technology market continues to be strong, and valuations remain stable (in contrast to general venture slowdown reported by TechCrunch). Investors keep fueling HR Technology startups with cash to expand services, invest in product development and provide solutions across end-to-end employee experience. Market demand is still high as some HR Tech vendors remain able to demonstrate their potential for value creation.

Some relevant acquisitions in the HR technology market in August: Harver acquired Pymetrics.

In terms of funding rounds: Celonis (series D extension; $1B), HiBob (series D, $150M), Allwhere (seed funding; $9.5M), Complete (seed funding; $4M), ModernLoop (series A; $9M) and Roleshare (seed funding; $1.2M)

In terms of partnership and new offerings: Skyhive  got approvals for its “job description generation based on machine learning”, ChartHop launched “compensation reviews”, ICIMS announced new recruiting capabilities, Lattice and Trinet announced partnership; EDX launched first course with Meta immersive learning and BetterUp announced integration with Workday.

Venture Capital Funding

• Celonis, the global leader in process mining, has secured an additional $1B in funding. $400M in equity raise (series D extension) and a $600M credit facility that values the company at nearly $13 billion.  See news HERE.
• HiBob’s, a cloud-based HR platform, raised $150M in series D funding at $2.45 billion valuation. This new valuation represents an estimated increase of 50% compared to its previous round C in Oct 2021. See news HERE. 
• Allwhere, a flexible work provider, raised $9.5M in seed funding. Allwhere is a logistic solution that helps organizations to set up a “work from anywhere” environment for their employees. See news HERE.
• Complete, a compensation platform, raised $4M in seed funding to help companies (particularly startups) to implement a compensation strategy. See news HERE.
• ModernLoop, an interviewing platform, raised $9M in series A funding bringing the organization’s total raised to $12.3M. The investment will be used to add additional headcount and go to market. See news HERE.
• Roleshare, a job-sharing platform, raised $1.2M in seed funding. The investment will be used to enhance its platform and product development and expand services into new markets. See news HERE.

New Offerings & Partnerships

• Skyhive, a leading upskilling platform, announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued its “job description generation based on machine learning”. This new offering removes the need of hiring managers/recruiters to write job descriptions by automating this activity using a combination of machine learning and statistical analysis See news HERE.
• ICIMS,a talent acquisition platform, announced new capabilities to automate sourcing, simply scheduling, improve talent mobility and onboarding. Furthermore, it announced new standardized integrations with SAP and ADP. See news HERE.
• ChartHop, a people analytics platform, “launched compensation reviews” to simply the complex process of compensation analysis, and data integration between HR and finance to make informed compensation decisions. See news HERE.
• Lattice, a performance and engagement platform, and Trinet, an HR core platform, announced partnership to manage workforce data in real-time. See news HERE.
• EDX, a global learning platform, launched first course with Meta immersive learning. See news HERE.
• BetterUp, a digital coaching platform, announced the integration with Workday. See news HERE.

Acquisitions

• Pymetrics, a leading soft-skill assessment platform, was acquired by Harver, a volume hiring platform (the amount of the deal was not released to the public). The acquisition of Pymetrics is bringing behavioral-based AI assessment, talent mobility and personalized learning/upskilling capabilities, expanding Harver’s solutions across the talent lifecycle. See news HERE.

Relevant Articles

• Boston Consulting Group published: 
  • “The $12 Billion Opportunity in HR Technology”. See article HERE.
• TechCrunch published: 
  • “As a startup founder, you really need to understand how venture capital works”. See article HERE.
• Fortune published: 
  • “Spotify allowed its 6,500 employees to work from anywhere in the world. Its turnover rate dropped”. See article HERE.

Events

• Gartner Reimagine HR Conference; Oct 24-26, 2022, Orlando, FL. Subscribe HERE

Art of the Possible

• “CyberOne robot is Xiaomi’s answer to Tesla Bot reported by  Digital Trends. See video HERE.

More to come! Stay tuned.

Note: All views expressed in this article do not represent the opinions of any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. My opinions are my own.