When it comes to raising its first round of funding, you can't argue with
RiseSmart.com's timing. The job placement Web site and service provider, which caters to executive-level job seekers as well as companies conducting layoffs, was narrowing down a short list of potential investors when the market downturn hit and the current wave of layoffs began. Its negotiations resulted in a $3 million Series A round from Norwest Venture Partners, which will support the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company's product development and marketing efforts.
RiseSmart isn't toying with the market for rank-and-file job seekers, though. Like peer TheLadders.com Inc. (which is
backed by Matrix Partners and a group of angels), RiseSmart targets earners of six-figure salaries (and higher), but adds a wrinkle that allows people to search for jobs somewhat passively.
According to CEO Sanjay Sathe, RiseSmart's Job Concierge product allows job seekers to enter their job preferences, then receive weekly reports of available jobs that match their desires. Rather than collecting fees from companies that post open positions, RiseSmart trawls job boards to find those gigs, then charges job seekers a $40 monthly subscription fee.
In addition, RiseSmart provides outsourced human resources services to companies in transition. Sathe calls this its "wholesale" business, as opposed to its "retail" business for individuals. The company had been offering services to job seekers for several months before it launched the outplacement service, but Sathe says the current economic environment has provoked strong growth for the new business line in the past couple of months.
The new $3 million round followed a $1.5 million seed round from private individuals during 2007. Sathe says RiseSmart's operations have been particularly lean, although it expects to spend judiciously on marketing and continued technology development in the near future. "We're an anti-cyclical business," says Sathe. "This is our time to shine."
-- Paul Bonanos
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