Resume and recruitment platform Hellohive seeks to help eliminate recruitment bias by creating a virtual community that includes employers and those looking for a new role.
The company is part of a growing number of resume and skills apps that are trying to combat discrimination in the hiring process. Hellohive gives candidates from underrepresented or socially marginalized backgrounds the opportunity to connect with employers they might not otherwise have the opportunity to meet. It also gives employers the opportunity to look at candidates for skills beyond where they went to school or where they once worked, allowing for a more holistic approach to hiring that can in turn diversify the workforce.
Hellohive hosts virtual networking events between companies and candidates on the app, with clients including Goldman Sachs, American Express and Morgan Stanley. The company on Thursday announced a $3.4 million Series A round, led by the Tisch family, to help it achieve its mission.
Byron Slosar, who founded the company in 2019, said he created the app after a decade in undergraduate career services and recruiting. “I saw an opportunity for tech to employ candidates from all different backgrounds and experiences with fair opportunities for success,” he told TechCrunch, adding that career success shouldn’t be determined by who you know or where you go to school. “We are committed to providing the same opportunity for success to anyone who is willing to work.”
Example of what a candidate’s profile looks like in the Hellohive app. Image Credits: Hellohive
He called fundraising “always challenging,” but found it an opportunity to meet new people and make new connections.
Hellohive’s holistic approach to recruitment is important right now especially, as are companies departure from PPC’s commitments.
The app offers coaching services to job candidates on how to format a resume that will attract employers to the platform. Applicants also complete a coursework model that prepares them for the job hiring process. They then express interest in an employer on the app and the hiring process officially begins.
“Hive’s technology unlocks a unique level of connectivity and understanding between all participants in the recruiting conversation and not only modernizes but humanizes the recruiting process for everyone involved,” said Dan Levine, who works with Tom Tisch in his family office .
Pearl Fund and angel investors Ann Tenenbaum, Jeff Altman and Robert Bell Wilkins also participated in the round.
Slosar said this latest round of funding will be used to expand the executive team, improve Hellohive’s current technology and reach new potential customers. The company has raised $9 million in funding to date.
“I’m excited to see the impact a comprehensive, ever-evolving and self-defining approach to diversity will have on the world,” Slosar said.
