The Most Active Investors In HR Tech In One Infographic

Deal count to HR tech startups has already reached an all-time high in 2016, with over 350 deals worth approximately $1.96B of funding to HR tech startups.

Using CB Insights data, we ranked venture capital, corporate venture, and super angel investors by their unique investments to HR tech startups since 2012.

We define the HR tech category broadly to include software in workforce management and payroll and benefits administration. We also include employee development, along with recruiting and staffing platforms. We exclude staffing agencies, event and office space management software, and operations companies that provide office cleaning and management.

Click image to enlarge.

*Exited companies are included in the above graphic.

Some takeaways from our infographic:

• 500 Startups claimed the top spot on the most active HR tech investor list. The early-stage fund has invested in 17 unique HR tech companies since 2012, and 5 unique HR tech companies just this year, including salary comparison software Comparably and personnel and time management software providers Kolay IK and Bizimply.
• SV Angel took the second spot on the list, with 13 unique investments. Recent deals went to career development and coaching app BetterUp, project management software company Koan, and performance management software company Lattice.
• Tied for third are smart money VC investors New Enterprise Associates and Andreessen Horowitz.
• NEA invested in Elance, a marketplace for freelancers, that remains the most well-funded HR tech company that has exited since 2012. Elance merged with UpWork Global in Q4’13. NEA’s latest HR tech investment was a $5.2M Series B to Greytip Software.
• Andreessen Horowitz’s most recent investment was participation in a $11.5M Series B to employee perks marketplace AnyPerk. This is the firm’s first mid-stage deal to an HR tech startup since the $500M Series C in 2015 to troubled unicorn Zenefits. That round also included top investors Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures.
• Other top investors on the list are Khosla Ventures, East Ventures, FundersClub, Kapor Capital, Crosslink Capital, and Salesforce Ventures, the most active corporate investor in HR tech.