Total amount raised
$169.1 Millions
Latest funding date
4/1/2022
Location
Karat has successfully raised significant funding across multiple rounds, attracting notable investors such as Serena Williams and Base Partners. The platform specializes in technical interviewing solutions, aiming to improve the quality, efficiency, and equity of hiring processes.
Keep reading to explore the intricacies of Karat's fundraising journey and the investors backing this innovative platform.
What Is Karat?
Karat, founded on March 25, 2014, by Jeffrey Spector and Mohit Bhende, is based in Seattle, Washington. The company specializes in technical interviewing solutions, aiming to address the shortage of software engineers through a cloud-based platform.
With a workforce of 251-500 employees, Karat offers services like Karat Interview, Karat Qualify, and Hiring Insights to enhance the hiring process. Their solutions focus on improving the quality, efficiency, and equity of technical hiring.
Karat's platform leverages a network of expert interviewers and data-driven insights to provide organizations with a superior signal on technical skills, helping to limit bias and increase access to underrepresented candidates.
How Much Funding Has Karat Raised?
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: $2.3M
- Date: November 2015
- Lead Investors: 8VC
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To develop the initial version of the platform and validate the business model.
- Series A
- Amount Raised: $11.3M
- Date: May 2017
- Lead Investors: Norwest Venture Partners
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To scale operations and expand the team.
- Series B
- Amount Raised: $28M
- Date: May 2019
- Lead Investors: Tiger Global Management
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To further develop the product and expand market reach.
- Venture Round
- Amount Raised: $17.5M
- Date: October 2020
- Lead Investors: Tiger Global Management
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To enhance technology and data science capabilities.
- Series C
- Amount Raised: $110M
- Date: October 2021
- Lead Investors: Tiger Global Management
- Valuation at Round: $1.1B
- Motivation Behind the Round: To scale the Interviewing Cloud and expand global infrastructure.
- Venture Round
- Amount Raised: Not publicly disclosed
- Date: April 2022
- Lead Investors: Serena Williams
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To continue scaling and improving the platform.
Total Amount Raised: $169.1M
Current Valuation: $1.1B
Key Investors
- Serena Williams
- Details: Renowned tennis player and venture capitalist. She has made significant investments in various startups through her firm, Serena Ventures.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, health, wellness.
- Notable Investments: Impossible Foods, MasterClass, Tonal.
- Tiger Global Management
- Details: Investment firm focused on public and private companies in the global Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries. Known for backing high-growth startups.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, consumer, financial services.
- Notable Investments: Facebook, LinkedIn, Spotify.
- Norwest Venture Partners
- Details: Multi-stage investment firm managing more than $9.5 billion in capital. They invest in early to late-stage companies across various sectors.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, business services.
- Notable Investments: Uber, Spotify, BlueJeans.
- 8VC
- Details: Venture capital firm investing in early-stage and growth-stage companies. They aim to build transformative businesses.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, logistics, financial services.
- Notable Investments: Palantir, Wish, Guardant Health.
- Base Partners
- Details: Investment firm focusing on technology and growth-stage companies. They participate in funding rounds for high-potential startups.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, innovation-driven companies.
- Notable Investments: Not publicly disclosed.
What's Next for Karat?
As Karat continues to grow, the company is poised to capitalize on several significant opportunities. The shift to remote work and the increasing demand for technical talent present a vast market for Karat's Interviewing Cloud. With the technical hiring market valued at $60 billion annually, Karat's potential for expansion into non-technical roles and the development of products that support the entire engineer lifecycle is immense.
Future fundraising opportunities are likely, given the company's rapid growth and the strong interest from venture capital firms. Additional funding could help Karat scale its global infrastructure and enhance its data science capabilities. However, challenges such as maintaining interview quality and consistency, and competing with other talent acquisition firms, remain. Addressing these issues will be crucial for Karat's sustained success.
Use Clay to Get Funding Data
Sales professionals, take your strategy to the next level by leveraging Clay's platform to access comprehensive fundraising data on companies like Karat and gather other critical business insights. Sign up for free today and unlock the potential to drive your sales efforts with unparalleled data and insights.
