Roundup: Articulate Bootstrapped Until It Raised $1.5 Billion

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Our weekly roundup of deals, product announcements and other HR technology news.

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Learning technology company Articulate raised $1.5 billion in what VentureBeat calls “one of the biggest (if not the biggest) series A rounds ever.” The funding raised Articulate’s value to $3.75 billion. Articulate was founded nearly 20 years ago, but has never sought investment dollars before. VentureBeat said the move now stems from the growth and potential of the corporate e-learning market.

Thrive Global raised $80 million in Series C funds, which will be used to facilitate growth.  The round was co-led by Mamoon Hamid at Kleiner Perkins. One of the earliest investors in Slack, Figma, Box and Yammer, Hamid will join Thrive’s board of directors. Owl Ventures also co-led the round.

This week: @Articulate raises $1.5B, Justworks launches time & Attendance tool, Attrax and SmartRecruiters integrate, and more in our latest roundup. #HR #HRTech Click To Tweet

Contingent labor marketplace Instawork raised $60 million in Series C financing, bringing its total funding to $100 million. The company said its business accelerated dramatically over the past 15 months as it adapted to the labor market effects of COVID-19 and expanded its marketplace to help address an imbalance of labor supply and demand. The new funding will be used to continue expanding into new markets, job categories and industries, and also in more training and development initiatives to help hourly professionals advance their careers.

Justworks launched Justworks Hours, a time and attendance solution that uses automation to make employers more efficient, and mobile tools to aid employees. Justworks Hours automatically syncs to time cards in Justworks, reducing time spent on manual calculations and managing payroll. The launch follows Justworks’ acquisition of Boomr, a time and attendance software company, in October 2020.

Attrax and SmartRecruiters announced an integration of the SmartRecruiters Talent Acquisition Suite and Attrax’s Careers Site System. By joining forces, Attrax said, it will help joint customers take advantage of a streamlined experience for job seekers and hiring managers.

Ernst & Young launched new technology to support its global EY Payroll Operate service, a managed payroll service for companies at all stages of business. The new technology helps companies streamline global payroll processes, provide better controls and facilitate compliance.

JobzMall launched Poly Interactive Career Meetings, called PicMe, which connects career seekers with hiring organizations. Positioned as a new way to host virtual career fairs, PicMe enables employers to host real-time virtual stands, allowing job seekers to explore organizations and easily engage with one another. JobzMall will offer PicMe as an invitation-only feature until a nationwide rollout in the fall of 2021.

Phenom will begin working with Globalization Partners to build its team overseas. Globalization partners offers a SaaS employer of record platform. Phenom has significantly expanded its global footprint over the last few years.  

A new career platform, Mave, launched to help software companies identify sales talent, and to help sales professionals find companies and opportunities that match their experience. Among other things, the platform offers employer-branded profiles to showcase teams, perks and company information to software sales job seekers.

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