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§ Private Profile · New York City, NY, USA
Untapt is a technology company.
untapt developed an AI-powered talent acquisition platform, leveraging proprietary deep-learning algorithms. This technology objectively matched candidates with roles in real-time, streamlining recruitment by reducing human bias. It emphasized predictive analytics to enhance hiring efficiency and fairness, particularly within the demanding tech sector.
Founded in 2013 by CEO Ed Donner, CIO Max Novendstern, and Chief Scientist Shaukat Shamim, untapt emerged from the conviction that traditional hiring was broken. Their core insight: recruitment should be predictive, objective, and efficient. They aimed to transform talent acquisition by replacing subjective evaluations with a data-driven matching system.
Over 500 organizations, including major global financial services firms, utilized untapt’s platform. The company’s vision centered on transforming talent acquisition into a more intelligent and equitable global process. By applying sophisticated AI, untapt enabled businesses to build stronger, more diverse workforces based on objective fit.
Untapt has raised $5.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Untapt has raised $5.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Untapt has raised $5.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Other Equity in November 2016.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2016 | $2M Venture Round | — | Cris Conde, Walter B., Bluff Point Associates, Mathers Associates, Sand Hill East, Senahill Partners, Tsai Capital, WorldQuant Ventures | Announced |
| Apr 21, 2015 | $3M Series A | Christopher Tsai | Kyle Zasky | Announced |
Untapt has raised $5.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Untapt's investors include Cris Conde, Walter B., Bluff Point Associates, Mathers Associates, Sand Hill East, SenaHill Partners, Tsai Capital, WorldQuant Ventures, Christopher Tsai, Kyle Zasky.
Untapt is an AI-powered talent marketplace that connects technology professionals, particularly software engineers, with companies in tech and finance sectors, solving the challenge of efficient skill-based matching in high-demand hiring markets.[1][2][3] It serves job seekers by offering one-click applications to over 40,000 roles at startups to Fortune 500 firms, while enabling enterprises to reduce hiring time, promote internal mobility, and uncover hidden talent beyond traditional filters like school or experience.[1][3][5] The platform generates revenue through success-based fees charged to hiring companies, roughly one-third the cost of traditional recruiters, and raised $7.14M–$8.1M before its 2021 acquisition by Wynden Stark, which integrated its tech into a broader intelligent recruitment ecosystem.[1][2][3]
Untapt was founded in 2013 (with some sources noting 2014) in New York City by Ed Donner (former Managing Director in technology at JP Morgan), Geoff Massam (former CIO at Deutsche Bank), and Max Kantelia (entrepreneur in recruitment and FinTech).[1][2][3] The idea emerged from recognizing an exploding demand for tech talent in FinTech and financial services, where 400,000 annual job openings clashed with a painful, inefficient recruitment process; the founders built the first automated platform exclusively for this niche, empowering candidates with control and confidentiality.[2] Early traction included a $3M Series A in 2015 from investors praising its market opportunity and team expertise, followed by product expansions like "UNLOCKED" advanced hiring tech and "untapt intelligence" for skills analytics.[2][4] A pivotal moment came in April 2021 when Wynden Stark acquired it to combine staffing with AI-driven matching, accelerating global growth.[1]
Untapt rides the AI-driven transformation of recruitment amid chronic tech talent shortages, exacerbated by FinTech booms and global demand for 15 million technologists.[1][2] Its timing aligned with post-2010s hiring inefficiencies, where traditional methods failed exploding FinTech needs, positioning it as a pioneer in skill-first, predictive matching that influences equitable hiring trends.[2] Market forces like remote work, diversity pushes, and enterprise upskilling favor its internal mobility features, while the 2021 Wynden Stark acquisition amplified its reach into global staffing, blending human expertise with data science to redefine recruitment ecosystems.[1] By enabling faster, fairer tech hiring, it contributes to broader workforce agility in competitive sectors.
Post-acquisition, Untapt's tech now powers Wynden Stark's intelligent platform, likely expanding AI capabilities for global tech/finance hiring with enhanced data science.[1] Trends like generative AI for personalized matching, rising demand for non-traditional talent, and internal mobility mandates will shape its path, potentially integrating deeper with HR suites amid labor market volatility. Its influence may evolve from niche FinTech disruptor to core infrastructure for bias-free, predictive recruitment, sustaining momentum as companies prioritize skills over pedigrees—echoing its founding mission to simplify painful hiring in talent-starved markets.[1][2][5]