Last year was another banner year for HR technology software. That includes a few job communities that I wanted to highlight. A new generation of job platforms are emerging and its exciting to see them innovate and advance how companies recruit talent.
Here’s a look at who got funding in 2020 and my take on why they are viable businesses.
TradeHounds
Targeting the construction job market, this app based community is now 200k strong. Its gotten traction because this job market is ripe for innovation. Also as an “app first” platform their user base, construction workers are much more likely to use an app vs a website to find work work. Keep an eye on these guys.
Bonus: check out my interview with their co-founder.
The Mom Project
Women focused job communities have been growing in size and scope the past few years. So its no surprise that The MOM Project raised $25 million last summer. I count at least 10 sites that aim to bring together women and employers. Moms who left the workforce to have kids are a great source of talent if you hire them and The MOM Project understood that clearly (their founder had the same pain point).
Jobcase
This company aims to be the LinkedIn for the hourly space. They raised a whopping $100 million in 2019 I still cant fathom why they need such a large amount like that which probably values them as a billion dollar company. Big number considering the amount of competition they have in the hourly space.
But they have built something different than other players by focusing on a social network for job hunters. So they are more than just job postings.
MarketerHire
Freelancing continues to grow by leaps and bounds and now we are seeing a “niche-ification” of industries and consultants for hire. MarketerHire received $3 million last year.
Here’s what their founder said about the future of freelancing;
“Today’s startup economy depends on the expertise of industry specialists as much or more than full-time generalists,” said Nick Green, co-founder and CEO Thrive Market, MarketerHire customer and investor. “For a lot of high-growth companies, it no longer makes sense to build a big in-house team; better to leverage the best specialists to get the job done, and MarketerHire enables that talent to be easily found and matched — and all remote.”
Mathison
Kind of a reverse job board for diversity candidates, this company raised $2 million in funding last year from Animo Ventures. Diversity sites are extremely hot right now in terms of investment and interest from employers.
The site attracts talent from a variety of nonprofit workforce development agencies & professional groups and serves as a marketplace where companies can search for specific types of potential employees coming from underrepresented or diverse backgrounds. They make money off a percentage of salary if a candidate is hired. Expect to see a few more startups targeting diversity in 2021.
There you have it. Five examples of what’s to come in the job board space. Perhaps that word is a bit outdated now, which is why I am starting to refer to these startups as Job Market Platforms.
