The Full List of 18 Recruiting Unicorn Startups (2026)
The recruiting sector is being reshaped by technology that supports global and remote workforces. There are currently 18 unicorn startups in this space.
Deel leads with a $17B valuation for its global HR platform. Newcomer Mercor, founded in 2023, has also reached a $10B valuation with its AI-based hiring tools.
Below is the full list of 18 Recruiting unicorn startups at this time.
Top 10 Most Valuable Recruiting Unicorns
Deel has built an all-in-one platform for companies to hire and manage international teams. Their software handles the complexities of global payroll, HR, and compliance so businesses can onboard talent from anywhere.
| Valuation | $17B (Joined April 2021) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Alex Bouaziz, Ofer Simon, Shuo Wang |
| Funding Amount | $1.3B |
| Company Size | Enterprise Organization (5,001+) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | Y Combinator, Franklin Templeton, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital |
Mercor created an AI-based hiring platform to improve how companies find and recruit new employees. Their technology focuses on matching talent with opportunities specifically tailored to their skills.
| Valuation | $10B |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | Adarsh Hiremath, Brendan Foody, Surya Midha |
| Funding Amount | $483.6M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Menlo Ventures, Link Ventures, General Catalyst, Felicis, Benchmark |
Personio builds a comprehensive HR software platform tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises. They bring core HR processes like recruiting, payroll, and employee management together into one streamlined tool.
| Valuation | $8.5B (Joined January 2021) |
| Headquarters | Munich, Bayern, Germany |
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Arseniy Vershinin, Hanno Renner, Ignaz Forstmeier, Jonas Rieke, Roman Schumacher |
| Funding Amount | $724.3M |
| Company Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | Lightspeed Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Visionaries Club, Accel, Northzone |
Handshake built a career network to help college students and recent graduates find their next opportunity. Their platform connects millions of students with thousands of employers, from Fortune 500 companies to local nonprofits.
| Valuation | $4B (Joined May 2021) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Ben Christensen, Garrett Lord, Scott Ringwelski |
| Funding Amount | $434M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series F |
| Top Investors | Reach Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, EQT Ventures, Coatue, Spark Capital |
Papaya Global offers a unified platform to manage global payroll and payments for companies with an international workforce. Their cloud-based software automates the entire process, helping businesses hire, onboard, and pay employees anywhere in the world.
| Valuation | $4B (Joined March 2021) |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States |
| Year Founded | 2016 |
| Founders | Eynat Guez, Ofer Herman, Ruben Drong |
| Funding Amount | $444.5M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | Scale Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, IVP, Tiger Global Management |
iCIMS builds a talent cloud platform to help organizations attract, engage, and hire the right talent. They unify the entire recruiting process by combining tools for applicant tracking, candidate relationship management, and onboarding into a single system.
| Valuation | $3B |
| Headquarters | Holmdel, New Jersey, United States |
| Year Founded | 1999 |
| Founders | Colin Day |
| Funding Amount | $92.6M |
| Company Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | Susquehanna Growth Equity, TA Associates |
Remote builds a global HR platform for hiring, paying, and managing distributed teams. They handle the complexities of international payroll, benefits, and compliance, making it possible for companies to hire talent from anywhere.
| Valuation | $3B (Joined July 2021) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Job van der Voort, Marcelo Lebre, Nicholas Macario |
| Funding Amount | $496M |
| Company Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Accel, Gaingels, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital |
Incredible Health runs a career marketplace connecting nurses with permanent and temporary roles at hospitals. Their platform helps healthcare providers hire specialized nursing talent in a fraction of the time it typically takes.
| Valuation | $2B (Joined August 2022) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Iman Abuzeid, Rome Portlock |
| Funding Amount | $99.6M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Precursor Ventures, Rethink Impact, Base10 Partners, NFX, Andreessen Horowitz |
Eightfold AI builds a talent intelligence platform that gives companies a single system for managing their entire workforce. Its deep-learning AI helps HR teams handle everything from finding and hiring the right candidates to retaining and upskilling top performers.
| Valuation | $2B |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2016 |
| Founders | Ashutosh Garg, Varun Kacholia |
| Funding Amount | $396.8M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | IVP, Foundation Capital, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, South Park Commons |
Beisen builds an all-in-one talent management platform that helps enterprises manage the entire employee lifecycle. They are particularly known for their talent assessment and measurement solutions, which provide data-driven insights for HR decisions.
| Valuation | $2.B (Joined May 2021) |
| Headquarters | Beijing, Beijing, China |
| Year Founded | 2002 |
| Founders | Guoji Wei |
| Funding Amount | $388M |
| Company Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series F |
| Top Investors | Matrix Partners China, Shenzhen Capital Group, Genesis Capital, HSG, Goldman Sachs |
The Remaining 8 Recruiting Unicorns
The 10 most valuable companies are just part of the picture. The remaining unicorns have collectively raised over $1.8 billion, with a strong presence in the United States. Each one is tackling a different piece of the hiring puzzle, from sourcing candidates to conducting interviews. Here are the other recruiting startups to watch.
| Unicorn Startup | Country | Year Founded | Amount Raised | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lusha | United States | 2016 | $245M | $2B |
 Gem | United States | 2017 | $148M | $1.2B |
 SeekOut | United States | 2016 | $188.6M | $1.2B |
 Karat | United States | 2014 | $169.1M | $1.1B |
 Apna | India | 2019 | $193.5M | $1.1B |
 Beamery | United Kingdom | 2014 | $223M | $1B |
 Phenom | United States | 2010 | $161.4M | $1B |
 Velocity Global | United States | 2014 | $500M | $1B |
