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- SmartRecruiters
SmartRecruiters Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors
SmartRecruiters was acquired by SAP in August 2025.
Cumulative funding SmartRecruiters raised
$220M
across 5 funding rounds
Key investors in SmartRecruiters
Mayfield Fund
Insight Partners
Rembrandt Venture Partners
Counterview Capital
Salesforce Ventures
Robin Capital
Silver Lake Waterman
Acadian Ventures
About SmartRecruiters
SmartRecruiters is a San Francisco-headquartered talent acquisition platform facilitating recruitment marketing, candidate sourcing, collaborative hiring, and onboarding. The cloud-based system features an open marketplace for ATS integrations and vendor services, used by enterprises like Visa, McDonald's, and PepsiCo to streamline end-to-end hiring processes.
Founded
2010
HQ
Website
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription
Valuation
$1.5B (Jul 2021)
SmartRecruiters Acquisition
SmartRecruiters was acquired by SAP for an undisclosed price on 1 August 2025.
Before the acquisition SmartRecruiters had raised $220M across 5 funding rounds.
SmartRecruiters, a leading provider of enterprise-grade talent acquisition software known for its AI-native platform, intuitive user experience, seamless workflows, and capabilities in high-volume recruiting, recruitment automation, candidate matching, ranking, engagement, and analytics, was acquired by SAP SE in 2025. SAP announced the agreement on August 1, 2025, and completed the acquisition by September 11, 2025. The deal integrates SmartRecruiters into SAP's SuccessFactors Human Capital Management (HCM) suite to enhance AI-enabled recruiting, reduce time-to-hire, improve candidate and hiring manager experiences, and provide deeper workforce planning insights, while allowing SmartRecruiters to operate as a standalone solution interoperable with other HCM systems. SAP's strategic rationale focuses on strengthening its HCM portfolio against competitors like Workday and Oracle by adding SmartRecruiters' next-generation AI recruiting capabilities, scalability for global enterprises, and user-friendly interface that simplifies recruiter workflows. SmartRecruiters CEO Rebecca Carr remains in place, with the full team retained and no eliminations; the company will continue serving non-SAP customers independently. SAP plans to replace the SuccessFactors recruiting module entirely with SmartRecruiters over 3-5 years, with migration tooling in development and availability signaled by end of Q1 post-acquisition for SuccessFactors, E-Recruiting, and S/4HANA customers. Deal terms including financial details were not disclosed in announcements. The acquisition accelerates innovation in talent acquisition amid competitive talent markets, positioning SAP to redefine enterprise hiring through combined AI, analytics, and HCM ecosystem strengths.
| Acquirer | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Aug 2025 | Strategic M&A |
SmartRecruiters Valuation
SmartRecruiters is currently valued at $1.5B, based on its Series E in July 2021.
The $110M round was led by Silver Lake Waterman, with participation from ABACON, Acadian Ventures, Insight Partners and Mayfield Fund.
SmartRecruiters' valuation has grown 5.0x from $300M at its Series D in May 2019 to $1.5B in July 2021, across 2 priced rounds.
SmartRecruiters valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 2021 | Series E | $1.5B |
| May 2019 | Series D | $300M |
SmartRecruiters Funding History
SmartRecruiters has raised a total of $220M across 5 funding rounds.
SmartRecruiters' first fundraising round was a $10M Series B in August 2013. The most recent completed round was a $110M Series E in July 2021.
SmartRecruiters funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2021 | Series E | Silver Lake Waterman (lead); ABACON; Acadian Ventures; Insight Partners; Mayfield Fund | $110M | $1.5B | SmartRecruiters, the Hiring Success company, provides an enterprise-grade talent acquisition platform including CRM, messaging, and analytics capabilities to help global companies compete for top talent with a focus on diversity and inclusion. On July 20, 2021, it closed a $110 million Series E funding round led by Silver Lake Waterman, with participation from existing investors Insight Partners and Mayfield Fund, bringing total funding raised to $205 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. The proceeds will accelerate product development in intelligence, automation, and conversational interfaces, while expanding go-to-market efforts across US, EMEA, and APAC, and supporting its customer and partner ecosystem. Ahead of the round, SmartRecruiters demonstrated strong momentum, adding over 200 enterprise customers in the prior 12 months, achieving 50% revenue growth, and 70% bookings growth. Customers include major enterprises like Visa, Square, McDonald’s, Ubisoft, FireEye, Biogen, Equinox, Public Storage, and Pilot Travel Centers, which recently ramped up hiring by 10,000 people in 90 days. The company was recognized as a leader in enterprise talent acquisition by IDC and in the high performance, high potential category by Fosway. This funding positioned SmartRecruiters as HR technology's latest unicorn amid record investments in the recruiting sector, joining peers like Eightfold, Beamery, and Phenom. Silver Lake Waterman, part of Silver Lake with over $83 billion in assets under management, focuses on growth capital for later-stage tech companies. The round underscores the strategic importance of recruiting platforms as business success increasingly depends on hiring amid a fluid job market. |
| May 2019 | Series D | Insight Partners (lead); Rembrandt Venture Partners; Mayfield Fund | $50M | $300M | SmartRecruiters is a San Francisco-based recruiting software company founded in 2010, offering a next-generation talent acquisition platform that includes AI-powered features like SmartAssistant for enterprise hiring success, focusing on better hires, velocity, candidate quality, and experience. On May 29, 2019, it raised a $50 million Series D round led by repeat investor Insight Partners, with participation from existing backers Mayfield Fund and Rembrandt Venture Partners. The funds were earmarked for accelerating product development in AI and machine learning, geographic expansion into Europe and Asia Pacific including hiring 100 people, and enhancing its Hiring Success methodology with process optimization and customer workshops. The round came after a year of strong performance, including 100 percent year-over-year enterprise growth. Sources indicate the valuation was well above $300 million, reflecting investor confidence in its SaaS platform poised to dominate talent acquisition amid competitive enterprise needs. Insight Partners highlighted SmartRecruiters' innovative product suite and top global brand customer base as key strengths. Subsequent developments included a July 2021 Series E round of $110 million at a $1.5 billion valuation led by Silver Lake Waterman, with Insight Partners and Mayfield participating, bringing total funding to $205 million and fueling further product intelligence, automation, conversational interfaces, and global go-to-market expansion. The company serves major enterprises like Visa, McDonald's, and Ubisoft, with noted 70 percent bookings growth in the prior 12 months leading to Series E. SmartRecruiters was later acquired in August 2025. |
| Jun 2016 | Series C | Insight Partners (lead); Counterview Capital; Robin Capital; Mayfield Fund | $30M | - | SmartRecruiters is a SaaS-based hiring and talent acquisition platform that serves enterprise clients. The company provides tools for recruiting teams to manage job postings, track applicants, and streamline the hiring process. By 2016, SmartRecruiters had developed a mobile-first, highly collaborative platform and had attracted major customers including Square, Atlassian, and Equinox. In June 2016, SmartRecruiters closed its Series C funding round led by Insight Venture Partners. The round size was $30 million, bringing total funding to approximately $55 million when combined with the previous $25 million raised. The company had garnered 700 enterprise customers in the 24 months preceding the June 2016 funding announcement. Investors cited SmartRecruiters' mobile-first strategy and collaborative platform as key differentiators in a competitive recruiting software market. The funding was intended to accelerate growth in enterprise customer acquisition. The company continued its trajectory through subsequent funding rounds, eventually reaching a $1.5 billion valuation in July 2021 when it raised $110 million in its Series E round. In 2025, SmartRecruiters announced a focus on AI-driven capabilities and was subsequently acquired by SAP. |
| Jun 2015 | Series B | Salesforce Ventures; Rembrandt Venture Partners | $20M | - | SmartRecruiters is a San Francisco-based HRTech company founded in 2010 by Jérôme Ternynck, providing a cloud-based talent acquisition platform for applicant tracking, candidate assessment, recruitment marketing, offer management, analytics, and a marketplace for third-party recruiting services. The platform serves enterprises globally, including clients like Visa and Ubisoft, focusing on attracting, selecting, and hiring talent with features for screening, relationship management, and text-based recruiting. The specified Series B round in April 2015 raised $19.5 million led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from Rembrandt Venture Partners (also referred to as Rembrandt Partners) and Mayfield Fund, aimed at broadening enterprise features and supporting global expansion. This followed an earlier $10 million Series B in August 2013 led by Rembrandt Partners and Mayfield for product development and market entry, and a seed/Series A of $5.46 million in January 2012. Later valuations include $1.5 billion in the July 2021 Series E ($110 million led by Silver Lake Waterman with Insight Partners and Mayfield, pushing total funding over $200 million) and references to a $1.5 billion valuation as of July 2021. Subsequent rounds were $30 million Series C in June 2016 led by Insight Partners and Mayfield, and $50 million Series D in May 2019 led by Insight Partners with Mayfield and Rembrandt Venture Partners. Total funding across rounds reached approximately $214.55 million to $225 million. The company continued growth in AI, automation, conversational interfaces, and go-to-market expansion in the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific post-later funding. SmartRecruiters made three acquisitions, including Attrax in February 2022, and competed in the ATS and HRTech space with staffing, recruitment marketing, and marketplaces. |
| Aug 2013 | Series B | Rembrandt Venture Partners (lead); Rick Marini; Counterview Capital; Mayfield Fund | $10M | - | SmartRecruiters raised $10 million in its Series B funding round on August 22, 2013, led by Rembrandt Venture Partners with participation from Mayfield Fund and others. The funding aimed to scale product development and support market entry for its cloud-based applicant tracking and hiring platform. The company, founded in 2010 in San Francisco by Jérôme Ternynck, provides HRTech solutions including candidate assessment, offer management, recruitment marketing, analytics, and a third-party services marketplace. |
Who has invested in SmartRecruiters?
10 investors have backed SmartRecruiters across its funding rounds, including Mayfield Fund, Insight Partners, Rembrandt Venture Partners, Counterview Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Robin Capital.
Lead investors include Silver Lake Waterman, Insight Partners and Rembrandt Venture Partners.
SmartRecruiters Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Participant | Aug 2013 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Aug 2013 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Jun 2016 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Aug 2013 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jun 2015 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Aug 2013 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jul 2021 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Jul 2021 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 10 SmartRecruiters investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by SmartRecruiters
SmartRecruiters has acquired 3 companies to date.
Last acquisition by SmartRecruiters was on February 3rd 2022. SmartRecruiters acquired Attrax for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by SmartRecruiters
| Description | Attrax is a Manchester-based provider of career site software enabling companies to create personalized recruitment pages. The platform integrates with applicant tracking systems like Workday and Greenhouse, featuring job feeds, video embeds, and SEO tools. It serves enterprises in finance and tech sectors across the UK and Ireland. Launched in 2014, Attrax powers sites for firms like NatWest and PwC. | jobpal is a Berlin-based developer of AI-powered chatbots for recruiting and talent acquisition, founded in 2016. The chatbots automate candidate communication on platforms like Facebook Messenger, handling frequently asked questions, pre-screening, engagement, and interview scheduling. This enables recruiters to focus on high-value interactions with qualified candidates, streamlining the hiring process from initial outreach to logistics. | Jobspotting is a Berlin-based job recommendation engine founded in 2013 that leverages Skills Graph and semantic analysis to suggest personalized openings worldwide. Backed by seed funding through Axel Springer Plug and Play, it connects users to roles at firms like Zalando based on professional histories. |
| HQ Country | |||
| HQ City | London | Berlin | Berlin |
| Deal Date | 3 Feb 2022 | 12 Nov 2020 | 31 Jan 2017 |
| Valuation | undisclosed | undisclosed | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | |||
| EV/EBITDA | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all SmartRecruiters acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | |||
SmartRecruiters Competitors
SmartRecruiters competitors include listed companies like Freee and ATOSS Software, and private ones like Culture Amp, Pave, SmartHR and Degreed.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private | - | - | $1.5B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $214M | $6M | $1.5B | 4.8x | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.6B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.6B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.4B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $218M | $84M | $1.7B | 6.4x |
SmartRecruiters Public Comps
SmartRecruiters is no longer listed, but its public comps include Freee, ATOSS Software, Hilan, Teamshares, Nordtech Group, AdvancedAdvT, Beisen Holding, Zaggle Prepaid Ocean, Asure Software and DHI Group.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $214M | $6M | 6.3x | 4.8x | 237.7x | 65.4x | |||
| $218M | $84M | 7.0x | 6.4x | 18.2x | 17.1x | |||
| $993M | $154M | 1.8x | - | 11.9x | - | |||
| $472M | ($23M) | 1.7x | 1.4x | (35.0x) | 33.2x | |||
| $72M | $15M | 5.1x | - | 25.2x | - | |||
| $72M | $13M | 2.5x | 2.4x | 14.1x | 8.9x | |||
| $165M | $2M | 0.3x | 0.3x | 22.3x | 5.2x | |||
| $199M | $20M | 1.0x | 1.0x | 10.4x | 10.7x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all SmartRecruiters competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about SmartRecruiters
| When was SmartRecruiters founded? | SmartRecruiters was founded in 2010. |
| Where is SmartRecruiters headquartered? | SmartRecruiters is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| Is SmartRecruiters publicly listed? | No, SmartRecruiters was acquired by SAP in August 2025. |
| Who acquired SmartRecruiters? | SmartRecruiters was acquired by SAP in August 2025. |
| What is SmartRecruiters' valuation? | SmartRecruiters was last valued at $1.5B in its Series E in July 2021. |
| How much funding has SmartRecruiters raised? | SmartRecruiters has raised $220M across 5 funding rounds. |
| What was SmartRecruiters' last funding round? | SmartRecruiters' last funding round was a $110M Series E in July 2021, led by Silver Lake Waterman. |
| Who are SmartRecruiters' investors? | SmartRecruiters' investors include Mayfield Fund, Rembrandt Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Counterview Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Rick Marini, ABACON, Silver Lake Waterman, Robin Capital and Acadian Ventures. |
| Which companies are comparable to SmartRecruiters? | Companies comparable to SmartRecruiters include Culture Amp, Freee, Pave, SmartHR, Degreed and ATOSS Software. |
| How many companies has SmartRecruiters acquired? | SmartRecruiters has acquired 3 companies, including Attrax, jobpal and Jobspotting. |
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