Ukraine Fundraising Update: More Than $150,000

Yes, more than $150,000 raised so far. So much body armor on the way. The U.S. Department of Commerce has provided an export license. There’s a huge article from Reuters that has run in news outlets around the world. And many generous contributions from Nicholas Rich, Kristy McCann Flynn, GoCoach, Bentzy Goldman, Perflo, Joni Thomas Doolin, Black Box Intelligence™, Chris Wright, Ph.D., Medefy Health, Marc Watley, Rita Jackson, Vadim Liberman, Stacia Sherman Garr, RedThread Research, Mary Ellen Slayter, Rep Cap, Sarah White, Aspect 43, and Respect.Studio. If you would like to contribute, please visit our Fundly page.

Webinar Recording: The Reverse Mullet

Did you miss the Reverse Mullet webinar with Lance Haun and Laurie Ruettimann? Then you missed a cogent argument for an employee-first approach to fix the world of work today and Lance in a mullet wig.

Get the recording now!

Former Jobvite CEO Joins Filtered

The Boston-based automated technical interview platform announced Dan Finnigan’s arrival as CEO alongside its $10 million in financing to build an enterprise platform for post-pandemic hiring.

Fundings and Acquisitions

• UKG acquires Ascentis. Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Ascentis is a provider of full-suite HR and workforce management solutions that has grown from 860 customers to 4,800 customers in the past five years. (Press Release)
• Connecteam raises $120 million Series C. The NYC-based all-in-one app for deskless workers provides HR tools, communication tools, and operations management. (TechCrunch)
• Payhawk extends its Series B. The European-based spend management company has added $100 million to its current round of funding and becomes the first Bulgarian unicorn. (TechCrunch)
• Reforge raises $60 million Series B. The San Francisco startup is a career development platform for top-tier professionals in Growth, Product, Marketing, and Engineering. Its membership combines cohort-based programs with year-round access to high-caliber content and community. (FinSMEs)
• Atomic lands $40 million Series B. The latest funding round for the Salt Lake City-based payroll API startup comes only five months after its Series A. (TechCrunch)
• Fieldguide raises $17 million Series A. The San Francisco startup is an automation and collaboration platform aimed at audit and advisory firms. (Accounting Today)
• Zero Systems gets $12 million Series A. The Silicon Valley AI startup focuses on bringing automation to professional services. (TechCrunch)
• Circular.io raises $10 million pre-Series A. The Madrid startup focuses on tech recruitment referrals. (TechCrunch)
• Calven raises $6.8 million seed round. This Sydney startup is a workplace experience platform for organizations to design, implement, manage, and measure work policies and processes. (Startup Daily)
• PTO Exchange raises $5.4 million seed round. The Seattle-area startup turns unused PTO into retirement plan contributions, student loan repayments, and other financial benefits. (BizJournals)
• SteadyPay gets $5 million Series A. The London-based startup helps gig workers stabilize their incomes. (TechCrunch)
• Whistle closes $3.2 million seed funding round. The St. Louis-based employee experience platform is led by former Maritz executives Drew Carter and Chris Dornfeld, and delivers a curated employee experience like onboarding and first-time manager training. (FinSMEs)
• LinkedIn buys Israeli analytics firm Oribi. (Press Release)
• London-based voice AI player Verbit acquires Take Note. (TechCrunch)

New Episode: hey, Bret Starr!

This week's episode of Work Tech Weekly on the hey, Bret Starr! channel dives into the Great Resignation — why is it happening?

There was a 57% turnover rate on an annual basis across all industries in 2021. If you ask Bret Starr, the Great Resignation is people resigning themselves to the idea that this is the way things are going to be, instead of doing something about it — like creating a better employee experience that works for different people in different ways.

Listen to this week's episode here.

Industry Notes

• LAST CALL: Take the Aspect43 Insights Survey. Whether you are in HR, recruiting, business leadership, or an employee/jobseeker, offer your feedback about what is and isn't working around work.
• Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC set to leave Russia market over Ukraine war. (Bloomberg)
• Grammarly is donating all of its Russian profits since 2014 to Ukraine. (qz.com)
• Anthem rebranding to Elevance Health. (Wall Street Journal)
• Laurie Ruettimann and Joey V. Price join UKG’s Workforce Institute Advisory Board. (Press Release)
• Thomas Otter joins Acadian Ventures. A good get for Jason Corsello. (Medium)
• Kazoo announces Patrick Manzo as new CEO. (Press Release)
• Docebo 2021 earnings: Revenue up 66%. (Press Release)
• The rise of the self-service B2B buyer. More than half (53%) of B2B buyers say they would ideally like to buy without interacting with a salesperson at all. (MarketingProfs)
• Companies try to limit salary bumps and focus on perks instead. (Wall Street Journal)

Around the Shop

Explore this small collection of articles and stories recently shared around The Starr Conspiracy virtual offices. Here’s what our agents have been talking about this week. 

• Brand accounts for 40% of sales success, according to social listening data. (The Drum)
• New report looks at social platform performance benchmarks for brands. (Social Media Today)
• A smattering of Haiku for the Burnout Age. (The New Yorker)
• Leon Bridges and Laura Lee can’t stop talking about Texas. (Interview Magazine)

That’s it for this week!

Everybody love everybody,

Steve Smith