Simply Hired is a technology company.
Simply Hired has raised $35.0M across 5 funding rounds.
Key people at Simply Hired.
Simply Hired has raised $35.0M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Key people at Simply Hired.
Simply Hired has raised $35.0M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Simply Hired's investors include Griffin Gaming Partners, Storm Ventures, Peter Sonsini, Investus Capital Partners, Practical Venture Capital, Good Startup.
Simply Hired was a technology company that operated an employment website and mobile app aggregating job listings from thousands of websites and job boards, enabling job seekers to search, upload resumes, set alerts, and access career advice, while offering employers premium pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for placements.[2][4] Launched publicly in 2005 after founding in 2003–2005 (sources vary slightly on exact date), it served job seekers and employers globally, solving fragmented job discovery by centralizing listings with filters like lifestyle options (e.g., for veterans, moms).[1][2] The company raised over $33 million across multiple rounds, achieved profitability, earned awards like Forbes' Top 10 Best Websites for Your Career in 2013, and was acquired by Recruit Holdings (owner of competitor Indeed) in 2016 before shutting down sometime post-acquisition.[1][2][3]
Simply Hired emerged from founder Gautam Godhwani's observation of inefficiencies in the $100 billion U.S. employment industry, where high spending on hiring often left both employers and employees dissatisfied.[1] Godhwani, an entrepreneur with 15+ years building startups—his prior company AtWeb was acquired by Netscape in 2000—co-founded the India Community Center in Silicon Valley with his brother Anil, gaining insights into community needs before pivoting to jobs in 2004.[1][6] Joined by Anil Godhwani (VP People) and Peter Weck (CTO), they founded the company in March 2005 (or May 2004 per some timelines) with a $1.2 million seed from personal funds and investor Jerry Crowley.[1][3][4]
Early traction included a $3 million Series A in 2005 from Garage Technology Ventures and angels like Guy Kawasaki, followed by $13.5 million Series B in 2006 from Foundation Capital and Fox Interactive Media, plus later rounds totaling $33+ million, fueling global expansion and partnerships like MySpace Careers (2006) and Washington Post (2009).[1][2][3]
Simply Hired rode the mid-2000s Web 2.0 wave of vertical search engines, capitalizing on fragmented online job boards amid rising internet job hunting, with SEO and aggregation disrupting siloed sites like Monster.[4] Timing aligned with social media's rise (e.g., MySpace/Facebook integrations) and economic shifts boosting demand for efficient hiring tools, especially post-2008 when traffic surged despite scrutiny.[3] It influenced the ecosystem by popularizing aggregated search (paving way for Indeed's dominance), publisher tools like Job-a-matic, and niche filters, while its 2016 acquisition by Recruit Holdings consolidated the market under Japanese ownership, highlighting M&A trends in recruitment tech.[2][3]
Simply Hired's arc—from innovative aggregator to acquired and shuttered—underscores the brutal consolidation in job search tech, where scale favored giants like Indeed.[3] Post-shutdown, its legacy persists in modern platforms' aggregation models, but no revival is evident as of available data. Future trends like AI-driven matching and remote work could revive similar plays, yet barriers (data moats, ad competition) limit newcomers; its influence endures in shaping user-friendly, global job discovery.[2][3] This pioneer proved aggregation's power, even if timing and exits defined its end.
Simply Hired has raised $35.0M across 5 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $12.0M Series E in April 2014.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2014 | $12.0M Series E | Griffin Gaming Partners, Storm Ventures, Peter Sonsini | |
| Apr 1, 2009 | $5.0M Series D | Griffin Gaming Partners, Storm Ventures, Peter Sonsini | |
| Feb 1, 2006 | $14.0M Series C | Storm Ventures | |
| Jun 1, 2005 | $3.0M Series B | Investus Capital Partners, Practical Venture Capital | |
| Sep 1, 2004 | $1.0M Series A | Good Startup |