Handshake, a career network for US college students, has closed a USD40 million Series C funding round led by the EQT Ventures fund (EQT Ventures), a European multi-stage VC fund.
This funding round also includes participation from leading social impact investors including The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Omidyar Network (Omidyar), and Reach Capital (Reach), among others. In conjunction with the funding, Alastair Mitchell of EQT Ventures is joining Handshake’s Board of Directors. Representatives from CZI, Omidyar, Reach and others will be joining a newly formed Impact Advisory Board to advise the company on better measuring and growing its social impact. The Series C brings Handshake’s total funding to USD74 million, which also includes participation from previous investors such as Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, True Ventures, and Lightspeed Ventures.
Founded in 2013 by three Michigan Tech students with the goal of democratising opportunity, Handshake’s partnership with colleges and universities is dramatically increasing the access to jobs and internships for students and the young alumni nationwide. The Handshake network launched with five initial partner schools and, today, Handshake is proud to announce that the community now includes 700 colleges and universities, 14 million students and young alumni and 300,000 employers – including 100 per cent of the Fortune 500. The Handshake community proudly supports more than 100+ minority-serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions across the country.
“Our Handshake community is tackling the so-called ‘pipeline problem’ head on. Skilled students are on every campus in every corner of the country and we’re proud to help employers discover, recruit and hire up-and-coming talent from all backgrounds,” says Garrett Lord, Handshake Co-Founder and CEO. “Students around the world experience the same inequality in the recruiting process, so we’re excited to partner with Alastair Mitchell and EQT Ventures to expand our impact beyond the United States.”
“Handshake is the leading, fastest-growing early-career recruitment platform in the US for students and employers,” says Alastair Mitchell, Partner at EQT Ventures. “We’re delighted to join forces with Garrett and the Handshake team on their journey, helping them to expand their footprint across North America and into new markets internationally with both financial and operational support.”
In this next phase of growth, Handshake plans to advance its product roadmap to continue to broaden the capabilities for each of the three-sided marketplace for students, universities, and employers. Today, Handshake offers a suite of Premium employer features in the newly-launched Talent Engagement Suite, empowering employers to source, engage, and hire the right students for their team, from every background, in every corner of the country. Over the next year, Team Handshake plans to double, from 100 to 200 employees, with a focus on product, engineering and design efforts, with an emphasis on data and recommendations expertise.
As part of this announcement, Handshake is also pleased to welcome Christine Y Cruzvergara, formerly Associate Provost and Executive Director for Career Education at Wellesley College, to the leadership team as Vice President of Higher Education and Student Success, where she will lead work to deepen Handshake’s partnerships with higher education to ensure greater and more equitable student career success.
“CZI is thrilled to support Handshake as it connects talented students to career opportunities that enable them to reach their full potential,” says Vivian Wu, Managing Partner of Ventures at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “Handshake’s approach – expanding access, building student community and support, and showcasing accomplishments beyond college and degree – produces real results, especially for young people from communities that haven’t had access to high quality job and life opportunities.”
According to a 2018 Strada-Burning Glass Study, more than 43 per cent of graduates are underemployed in their first job out of college, putting them economically behind their peers. Of those who graduate underemployed, 50 per cent remain underemployed 10 years after graduation. Through the expansion of a rich, engaging community of students, alumni, employers and universities, including the launch of Reviews and Q&A, Handshake is working to ensure that all students – regardless of background, major, or connections – have access to the tools and information they need to launch a strong career from the very beginning.
