The 128th running of the Boston Marathon is today!  Happy Patriots' Day!

Tens of thousands of runners will embark on the 26.2 mile journey...

We thought it would be fun to compile a list of the runners from the tech industry, as they need to be celebrated!  Below is a list of marathon runners in the tech sector to cheer on.

Jason Burke

Founder of All Stage
Co-Founder & Managing Director of TBD Angels

Why he's running: 
I've been running marathons since HS and have a lifetime goal to run one in each of the 50 states, and to continue my Boston Marathon streak until I can't run it anymore (this year will make 29). Running keeps me healthy, gives me time to think through business problems, and keeps me in shape to eventually do a future Patriots day 26.2mi run with my kids.
 

Meghan Frazier

Program Manager at Bottomline Technologies

Why she's running: 
Running for UMass Chan Medical School ALS Cellucci Fund
First Boston Marathon, but 5th marathon overall.

Zach Anderson

Account Executive at O'Reilly

Why he's running: 
I run to achieve my dream of qualifying for the Olympic Trials and for my late sister, Kaleigh.

Andrew Bialecki

Co-Founder and CEO, Klaviyo

Why he's running: 
Andrew is running to support Dana Farber

Chris Allen

Senior Applied Scientist at Teikametrics

Why he's running: 
2024 is the 20th anniversary of my sister Elizabeth's brain cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Tufts Floating Hospital for Children. To honor the doctors, nurses and staff who treated her, I'm running the Boston Marathon as part of the Tufts Medical Center marathon charity team.

Karen Pulkkinen

Chief of Staff, CarOffer (a CarGurus company)

Why she's running: 
Karen is working toward a 25-year Boston Marathon streak. This race marks her 14th--and her 25th marathon overall--including events in Chicago and Berlin. She shares her passion for running as co-lead of the CG Running Club, which encourages Gurus to break a sweat together through weekly group runs and organized local races.

Liddy DeConto

People Operations Coordinator, CarGurus

Why she's running: 
This is Liddy’s first marathon. Sports played a pivotal role in her upbringing and she’s excited to pay it forward by running for the Play Ball Foundation, which provides equitable access to team sports for middle school youth in high-need communities.

Matt Sawyer

Software Engineering Manager, Liberty Mutual

Why he's running: 
Running is a way of life for me and training for Boston helps me to maintain my physical and mental health through the challenging New England winters. I’ll run for a personal best time, but Boston can be a tough nut to crack. Many factors need to come together to support an optimal outcome, so we will see what the day brings!

Did you know that VentureFizz originally started out as a blog on Google's Blogger, where I tracked deal activity???  It was called Northeast Venture Capital Funding and M/A Activity (so original).  It actually still exists.  Click here if you want a trip down memory lane of funding activity from 2006 - 2009.

It's time for us to get back to our roots! 

After two years, I feel like we are starting to pull out of this tech correction, so we are going to start publishing a quarterly list of all the tech deals.  Our goal is to share some data to help understand the market and see if it is indeed improving.  Plus, we are looking to help promote all the activity in the Boston startup community.

Some highlights from the data:

• Databricks is on the hunt, as they acquired two Boston startups in Q1.
• The highest volume of activity was in the pre-seed and seed rounds.  Here's to these companies going on to raise their Series A.
• Unicorns - three of the Series D and Beyond companies that shared its valuation were all at $1B+, with Devoted Health at a Decacorn level at $12B+.
• AI (obviously) and healthcare startups were very popular in terms of raising capital.
• Legendary entrepreneur and database innovator, Mike Stonebraker, has a new company called DBOS.

In aggregate, the total amount of funding across all rounds and companies was:

$864.6M

If you are interested in getting the Deals information weekly, you can sign up for our popular Weekly Email Digest which has all the must know information from the Boston tech scene!  It's your one email a week to stay plugged in!  Sign up here:

Exits

Einblick (visual data computing platform) was acquired by Databricks.
Seed investors: Amplify Partners, Flybridge, Samsung Nnext Ventures, Osage University Partners, Koa Labs, and Dell Technologies Capital.

Kolide (endpoint security platform) was acquired by 1Password.
Investors: OpenView, Matrix

Lilac (AI tool for searching, quantifying, and editing data) was acquired by Databricks.
Investors: Vantage Legacy Capital

Funding

Series D and Beyond (5 Companies)

Aqua Security (cybersecurity company focused on cloud-native services) raised $60M Series E.
Investors: Evolution Equity Partners (Lead), Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and StepStone Group
Valuation: North of $1B
Jobs at Aqua Security

Devoted Health (health insurtech focused on Medicare Advantage) raised $175M Series E.
Investors: The round was led by a lead syndicate composed of The Space Between (TSB), Highbury Holdings, GIC, Stardust Equity, Maverick Ventures, and Fearless Ventures. Also participating in the funding round were Socium Ventures, Emerson Collective, Andreessen Horowitz, The Private Shares Fund and affiliated funds, F-Prime Capital Partners, General Catalyst, and GreatPoint Ventures.
Valuation: $12.87B
Technically, Devoted Health announced this funding on December 29, 2023 - but a lot of the coverage was in Jan.

Digital Onboarding (customer engagement platform for banks and credit unions) raised $58M in funding.
Investor: Volition Capital

Silverfort (Israel / Boston - identity protection) raised $116M Series D. 
Investors: Brighton Park Capital led, and was joined by insiders Acrew Capital, Greenfield Partners, Citi Ventures, General Motors Ventures, Maor Investments, Vintage Investment Partners, and Singtel Innov8.

Inari (gene editing startup for seeds) raised $103M in sixth-round funding.
Investors: Hanwha Impact, CPP Investments, Rivas Capital, NGS Super, State of Michigan Retirement System, Flagship Pioneering, and Roka Capital Management.
Valuation: $1.65B
Jobs at Inari

Series C (1 Company)

Overjet (AI technology for dentists) raised $53.2M Series C.
Investors: March Capital (lead), General Catalyst, Insight Partners, E14 Fund, Crosslink Capital, and others. 

Series B (3 Companies)

Nabla (ambient AI assistant for practitioners) raised $24M Series B. 
Investors: Cathay Innovation (lead), Zebox Ventures.

CodaMetrix (health care billing tech provider) raised $40M Series B.
Investors: Transformation Capital (lead), SignalFire, and Frist Cressey Ventures.

InStride Health (provider of pediatric treatments for anxiety and OCD) raised $30m Series B.
Investors: General Catalyst (lead), .406 Ventures, Valtruis, Mass General Brigham Ventures, and Hopelab Foundation. 

Series A (7 Companies)

PredictAP (platform designed to automate aspects of the invoice process for real estate accounting departments) raised $8M Series A.
Investors: RET Ventures (lead), Wise Ventures

Oxford Medical Simulation (VR medical training startup) raised $12.6M Series A.
Investors: Frog Capital (lead), ACF Investors

10Beauty (manicure robot) raised $38M in Series A funding (which includes a $17M extension).
Investors: Shine Capital (lead), Imaginary Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, and Red Sea Ventures
Listen 🎧: Alex Shashou, Co-Founder & CEO of 10Beauty on The VentureFizz Podcast

Metaplane (data observability platform) raised $13.8M Series A.
Investors: Felicis (lead), Khosla Ventures, Flybridge, Y Combinator, Stage 2 Capital, B37, and SNR

Pi Health (platform designed to streamline clinical trial processes for cancer therapies and treatments for other diseases) raised $30M Series A.
Investors: AlleyCorp (lead), Obvious Ventures (lead), Invus Capital and others.

CyberSaint (cyber risk management platform) raised $21M Series A.
Investors: Riverside Acceleration Capital (lead), Sage Hill Investors, Audeo Capital, and BlueIO

Ediphi (estimating software for contractors) raised $12M Series A.
Investor: Norwest Venture Partners

Pre-Seed / Seed (14 Companies)

Via Scientific (enterprise scale multi-omics data processing and analytics) raised a $5M seed.
Investors: G20 Ventures (lead), Innospark Ventures (lead), Melissa J. Moore (former CSO of Moderna), Rob Hickey (former EVP at DataRobot), and Janet Kosloff (Founder and former CEO of InCrowd, Inc.)

XRHealth (developer of VR and AR tools for chronic pain, anxiety, fibromyalgia, and dementia) raised a $6M seed.
Investors: Asabys Partners (led), Nova Prime Fund.

Elemind (AI-enhanced Neurotech Wearable) raised $12M in seed funding.
Investors: Village Global, LDV Partners, Embark Ventures, E14 Fund, and others.

Civic Roundtable (collaboration platform for government employees) raised $5M in seed funding.
Investors: General Catalyst (lead).

SigScalr (unified application observability platform) raised a $1.8M in pre-seed funding.
Investors: Scribble Ventures (lead), WestWave Capital, and Forward Slash Capital

Enkrypt AI (security and compliance services provider for generative AI integration) raised $2.4 million in seed funding.
Investors: Boldcap (lead), Berkeley SkyDeck, Kubera VC, Arka VC, Veredas Partners, Builders Fund, and angel investors

Vysioneer (oncology AI) raised $1.7M in seed funding.
Investors: Chaac Ventures (lead), Roger Ferguson Jr. and others. 

FamilyWell (postpartum mental health provider) raised $4.3M in seed funding.
Investors: .406 Ventures (lead), GreyMatter Capital, and Mother Ventures.

BlueBean (business spend management platform) raised $1.3M in funding.
Investors: Tola Capital

TollBit (platform aimed at addressing the shifting economics of web content in the age of AI) raised $7M in funding.
Investors: Sunflower Capital (lead), AIX, Lerer Hippeau, Operator Collective, and Liquid 2 Ventures.

DBOS (database startup) raised $8.5M in seed funding.
Investors: Engine Ventures (lead), Construct Capital, Sinewave, and GutBrain Ventures

Fluent Metal (developer of production-grade liquid metal printing) raised $5.5M in funding.
Investors: E15 (lead), Pillar VC, and angel investors. 

Monaire (AI powered HVAC in small buildings) raised $3.5M in seed funding.
Investors: Construct Capital (lead), Workshop Ventures, and others.

Cyvl.ai (transportation data infrastructure startup) raised $6M in a tweaner... between a seed and Series A.
Investors: Companyon Ventures (lead), Argon Ventures, AeroX Ventures, Alumni Ventures, MassVentures, Launch Capital, and RiverPark Ventures.

In recognition of International Women's Day and this year's theme #InspireInclusion, we reached out to companies asking the following question: 

How is your company recognizing International Women's Day?

Here are their responses:

Flywire

Our Women of Flywire ERG is hosting an International Women's Day half-day virtual event on March 6th! This is our second annual event and we are so excited to be offering this to our FlyMates. We have external speakers joining us as well as internal panels featuring FlyMates. We are also putting together a blog asking the Women of Flywire what their proudest moment as a woman has been. Keep an eye out for the blog on #InsideFlywire!
 

 

ReversingLabs

Response: As a company, we will be acknowledging International Women's Day internally and externally on LI and other social media outlets with posts. We will also be creating a video promoting International Women’s Day, speaking with the women of RL, discussing the support that RL gives to women, how women are recognized at RL and how RL allows them to #Inspire Inclusion (the 2024 theme of IWD). We also have a special way of recognizing our Croatia female colleagues, they will be greeted with handmade chocolate pralines on their desk along with a personalized message.
 

 

EngageSmart

We're excited to announce the launch of our women's ERG in March, aimed at fostering a workplace where women feel empowered to make their mark on the business and the culture of EngageSmart. Through this initiative, we're creating a supportive community where women can connect, grow, and thrive together.

As part of our recognition of International Women's Day, we're hosting a special event featuring Sally Helgesen, renowned author of How Women Rise and other empowering works. The event will include a one-hour session with Sally, including a Q&A segment where participants can engage with and learn from her directly. Additionally, the first 50 attendees to sign up will receive a complimentary copy of her book, further empowering them on their professional journey.
 

 

Liberty Mutual

This International Women’s Day, Liberty Mutual is celebrating by hosting a company-wide event with Liberty’s Chief Claims Officer Virna Alexander and Tracee Ellis Ross, star of the ABC hit comedy series “black-ish,” for a powerful conversation around equality, respect, and joy. And all month long, we’ll be hosting leadership panels, inviting employees to attend the virtual 2024 National Conference for Women and hosting local events in offices across the country like a pop-up shop in our Boston HQ showcasing women-owned businesses!
 

 

Aspentech

The Women's ERG (WLF) at AspenTech, both regionally and locally, is currently busy organizing various activities for the upcoming month of March. These include leadership conversations, mural-building sessions, and talks by external speakers. The most significant day of the year for the WLF is International Women's Day, and this year's theme, "Inspire Inclusion," is something that AspenTech is eagerly looking forward to celebrating.
 

 

Rapid7

In alignment with this year's Women's History Month theme, "Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion," and International Women's Day theme, "Inspire Inclusion," Rapid7 is dedicating efforts to celebrate and amplify the voices of women who have been pivotal in advocating for a more inclusive world. By intertwining these powerful themes, our initiatives underscore the importance of inclusion and the role each of us plays in advancing equity and diversity within our company and the broader community. Intentional moments throughout the month include global gatherings, highlighting global women's empowerment figures, a speed networking event, a guest speaker and renowned thought leader, leveraging our internal platform of employee recognition, a global reflection board, and launching a new global Women's ERG chapter. Our activities are designed not just to celebrate, but to spark conversations, encourage reflection, and promote actions that support gender equality and inclusivity within Rapid7 and the wider community.
 

 

Anaqua

Anaqua is celebrating IWD by highlighting how our employees Inspire Inclusion. Our team members will be invited to share how they promote inclusion at work and at home, and how inclusion positively impacts them and others. We are also inviting employees to share which women in their lives have inspired them the most. These responses will be compiled and shared internally and externally to promote inclusion.
 

 

Vestmark

Vestmark launched a Women’s Group this year. This group is dedicated to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where women thrive both personally and professionally. Our mission is to empower women within Vestmark to achieve their full potential, fostering personal and career growth. Throughout the year this group has hosted Women Forums, Panel Discussions and has been able to attend many conferences including the Massachusetts Conference for Women and the National Conference for Women. In celebration of Women’s History Month we are incorporating a slack channel where we will post weekly women empowering quotes, books, podcasts and more. Vestmark Women's Group seeks to contribute to a workplace culture that recognizes and harnesses the full potential of every individual, irrespective of gender. Together, we strive for a future where women excel, lead, and inspire.
 

 

Onapsis

In honor of Women's History Month and International Women's Day, our CEO/Co-Founder Mariano Nunez will be sharing a blog post highlighting some of Onapsis’ women leaders. We are also inviting all women at Onapsis to share the name of someone who has inspired or positively impacted their life and why. Responses will be shared internally and externally. Lastly, as we do every year, our ‘OnaCares’ volunteer program will be conducting donation drives to support local women’s non-profit organizations in several cities around the globe.
 

 

O'Reilly

As a women-led company, O’Reilly achieved new gender milestones in the past year, with 45% of women now represented on the executive leadership team. Additionally, 50% of promoted employees were women, compared to just 32% in the prior year.

Today we opened applications for our annual diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) scholarship program. Designed to help individuals from underrepresented groups in technology kick-start or further their careers, the scholarship will award 500 recipients with a free year-long membership to the O’Reilly online learning platform and expert-curated courses.

As part of their membership, scholarship recipients will receive unlimited access to all 5,000 of O’Reilly’s role-based on-demand courses, popular live events such as the Superstream Series, and a full library of O’Reilly books. Recipients will also receive access to top preparatory materials and practice tests for the most sought-after certifications in the industry as well as interactive labs and sandboxes that provide opportunities to experiment with live code in real dev environments. Additionally, recipients will have the opportunity to earn verifiable and shareable digital badges, allowing them to showcase their skills via social media and email.

Applications are being accepted now through April 1. To apply, visit: https://www.oreilly.com/diversity/scholarship-program.html.

 

Smartbear

For International Women's Day, the Women's Employee Resource Group at SmartBear is proud to host “Owning Your Path,” a panel discussion on what it means to be empowered and supported in your professional environment as a woman. The panel consists of SmartBear women from various career levels, geographies, and departments. Additionally, some of our leaders, including our Chief Marketing Officer, Cynthia Gumbert, will be participating in panel discussions at other companies.
 

 

Duck Creek Technologies

Women's History Month and offers an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable achievements of trailblazing women who have showcased resilience, determination, and unwavering commitment to breaking barriers, inspiring us all to strive for excellence and equity. Excitement is building as we lead up to a month of many events, both company-wide as well as just for our ERG members.

March 6th: Discovering Your Roots: The Women's Resource Group and Volar (Hispanic Resource Group) join forces to bring a session with Ayala, who will lead a discussion around discovering your roots and finding your voice. She is a visual artist of Indigenous descent, with subjects for her paintings referencing identity, divine femininity and popular iconography and honoring tradition. Her art has reached influencers and celebrities including Bad Bunny and Sanaa Lathan who shared art 𝑏𝑦 Ayala.

March 7th: Women's History Month Official Kickoff: Tiaa Allen, Senior Director of Application Support and newly appointed WRG Executive Sponsor will kick off the month in our virtual global event with her invaluable insights on Women’s History Month and the importance of the WRG. We're also honored to welcome a guest speaker, Bonnie Martinez, Head of Portfolio Management and Claims Systems at AXIS, who will share the women who influenced her throughout life and how they helped to strengthen her resolve and determination towards success. The WRG invites everyone to wear purple on March 7 as we celebrate International Women’s Day together – purple symbolizes achievements gained and achievements yet to come.

March 20th: Keynote Speaker Dr. Meena Sinha, author of the book “New Corporate wisdom-Achieving Excellence in Global Leadership” will focus on her topic regarding women who advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion. She will engage with us in a thought-provoking conversation regarding her work, writing, expertise and research on corporate culture and technologies.

March 21st: AI workshop with Yovana Rosales. She will dive into new and exciting ways to incorporate artificial intelligence into our roles at Duck Creek.

March 28th: Women’s History Month Closing Ceremony: The final event of the month will a session of women leaders from our organization sharing their own local heroes who inspired them and helped them become who they are today.

Throughout the month, the WRG will host additional Women’s History Month events for WRG members.

 

Aura

This year, Aura is celebrating Women's History Month and International Women's Day by empowering All-Stars to show up and thrive with confidence while offering unique opportunities for skill development. All month long, our Inclusion Council is spotlighting our amazing women employees in the #women-at-Aura Slack channel as nominated by their peers. Additionally, we are hosting a brunch in the Boston office, bringing in a company-wide speaker to talk about how we can all support women moving into leadership roles, and hosting a year-long workshop series designed to help employees learn and practice communicating with confidence, making powerful requests, skillfully conveying their value narrative, and then coaching others to grow and succeed as well.
 

 

Attensi

Attensi is proud to empower, recognize, and celebrate the women who work here all year long, but IWD is particularly special because we get to focus on celebrating these women, who continuously grow to be exceptional. We will be recognizing #InspireInclusion by launching a video to showcase women on the team and their unique qualities, interests, and hobbies. We want to acknowledge the successes of women at work, but also who they are as individuals outside of work. Additionally, each office will be enjoying some food from local women-owned businesses!
 

 

Zoominfo

At ZoomInfo, we're dedicating this month to celebrating Women's History Month and International Women's Day by spotlighting the impactful women within our organization. We will be hosting weekly activities, including engaging trivia sessions like "Women's History Trivia Wednesdays," to foster interaction and learning among all ZoomInfo team members. Our Women's Inclusion Network (WIN) employee resource group will organize a "Women in Leadership" panel discussion, centered on the theme "Inspire Inclusion," emphasizing the significance of fostering inclusive environments within workplaces and communities.

As part of our Women's History Month celebration, we will also support the Vancouver Donation Drive benefiting the BIPOC Village by holding a donation raffle game. Throughout the month, we'll share celebratory and informational posts in our company's general and ERG (Employee Resource Groups) channels, sparking conversations about inspirational women in the workplace.
 

 

Acquia

Acquia has celebrations all month long to honor Women’s History Month, including International Women’s Day!

Events:

Our Women’s Employee Resource Group is hosting several events including virtual speed meeting with #InspireInclusion themed prompts, and discussions around how the women in our lives have contributed to positive paradigm shifts that impact us today.

Our Chief People Officer is hosting a company-wide guest speaker event featuring Jacqueline Baker, who is known for her unique approach to modern leadership.

Our team in India will be hosting our first live campus hiring event in the region with Banasthali Vidyapith Women’s University, and will also partner with Seva Seyahog on March 8th in an initiative to help underprivileged women become more financially independent and live a sustainable life.

Initiatives:

Automated matching throughout the month to connect women across Acquia and identify peer coaching opportunities.

Sharing weekly content (from podcasts to movies to articles to Instagram accounts) via email and Slack to educate on and celebrate women trailblazers of the past and present.

Our EMEA team is using a regional Slack channel for several campaigns. They will wear purple and post selfies on March 8th, and separately are invited to share stories describing women they are inspired by and why.
 

 

Rue Gilt Groupe

Rue Gilt Groupe is proud of our commitment to developing and empowering women, not only on International Women’s Day, but every day and we are thrilled that 72% of our Associate population and nearly 65% of our Director+ Leadership self-identifying as women. To celebrate International Women’s Day, RGG Associates, regardless if hybrid, onsite, or fully remote, will have an opportunity to fill inspiration boards showcasing influential women in their lives within our Kentucky warehouse and Boston HQ, New York City, and Dublin offices.

Our Gilt.com brand is once again launching an Inspire and Empower on International Women’s Day boutique and will donate 10% of the boutique’s proceeds to support Project Glimmer, whose mission is to inspire every girl to envision and realize her empowered future.

All throughout Women’s History Month, RGG Associates will learn and engage in activities that uplift and inspire the women of RGG as well as the advocates who turn words into actions. These opportunities include a dedicated Slack channel spotlighting impactful women throughout history, a place to share media recommendations, and weekly women’s history trivia as well as two virtual live events, our much celebrated Open Letter Series inspired by letters authored by women of RGG and Unheard Voices event featuring RGG women leaders in a panel discussion around mentorship.
 

 

Draftkings

Throughout March, DraftKings will celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day across all global offices. In addition to recognizing International Women’s Day as a global holiday, our business and Women’s Business Resource Group worked together to develop a comprehensive program to educate our team members and highlight our commitment to supporting women across the company and in our local communities. There will be an in-person charity event at each DraftKings office, educational opportunities, and additional resources for all teammates.

 

Arcadia

At Arcadia we are celebrating International Women's Day by spending the day and the month highlighting powerful, impactful women.

We have our weekly round of trivia every Wednesday and are dedicating the entire month to trivia highlighting women's history. This gives all Arcadians a chance to interact and learn about women who have shaped the world we live in today. This is one of our favorite weekly activities to engage in as a company for some fun and learning.

In addition to trivia, Arcadia is also encouraging employees to share about different women who have inspired them throughout their lives. This includes an opportunity to share about influential women in leadership and how they have helped impact their careers and accomplishments. To round out the month, we are having a women's history month themed book club discussion, including a list of titles that incorporate various accomplishments and struggles of what it means to be a woman throughout history.

 

CarGurus

At CarGurus, we’re embracing the theme of #InspireInclusion all month long with our Women@CarGurus ERG and Women in Sales and Women in Tech communities. We kicked off the celebrations with a community conversation inviting Gurus to share a bit about themselves and why inclusion matters to them. For every Guru who participates, we’re donating to a women-focused org. The festivities will continue on March 12th--Equal Pay Day--when Gurus will be encouraged to wear red to show that women are “in the red.” We’ll also host an event to celebrate CarGurus’ women and allies over treats from a local, woman-owned restaurant. We’ll wrap up with an empowering employee-led panel discussion to showcase the diverse talents and perspectives of women working at our business.

 

At VentureFizz, one of our goals is to help make your job easy by providing you with highly curated information. This is important, as it can be a lot of work navigating through the 1,700+ listings on the VentureFizz Job Board.

Thus, we have curated guides across various industries. Here is your list of CleanTech companies that are all hiring on VentureFizz. Happy Job Hunting!

Welcome to the 2024 edition of our second annual Hiring Predictions & Poll Results for the tech industry.

We published the first edition of our Hiring Predictions & Poll Results last year and if you check out my opening commentary in terms of my prediction for 2023... I was very, very wrong. But, that is part of the fun with predictions, right?

The tech industry has been struggling since 2022, when the layoffs started. 2023 started with several major layoffs from tech giants like Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Meta, and many venture backed companies over the first quarter.

And, even though there were moments when it felt like the layoffs had come to an end, there would always be another cycle with layoffs being announced from companies of all sizes pretty much all year long. Needless to say, it was a long year. According to TechCrunch and their running list of tech layoffs, 240,000 jobs were lost in 2023.

2024 hasn't really started out on the right foot yet either with Amazon, Google, Twitch, and many other companies announcing layoffs already in January. 

In my opinion, the past two years feel very reminiscent of the financial crisis in 2018 and 2019. Then, things flattened out and started to pick up again. I think we are in the same type of cycle. The layoffs will finally come to an end after Q1 and then we'll start to see some incremental (not aggressive) hiring in 2024.

2024 Hiring Predictions Poll Results

Each year, we issue a poll on LinkedIn asking our audience to chime in. This year, we had 271 responses. The good news is that less people feel like the "layoffs will continue all year," but the greatest number of votes went to the "layoffs end but hiring will be flat" category.

Here are the results:

Hiring Predictions

In addition to getting feedback from the VentureFizz audience, we also reached out to Talent Acquisition & HR pros to get their predictions for 2024.

Please note, the views and predictions expressed in this blog post are representative of the individual's thoughts and opinions. They are not representative of the individual's employer.

  Mary Paris
  Director of Talent Acquisition at PERSUIT

"I believe we'll see an uptick in hiring, and hopefully some stabilization in the tech industry. The companies who prioritize balanced headcount growth with intentional focus on employee retention and engagement will be the most stable and successful at attracting and keeping their talent."

  Jeanne Cordisco
  Chief People Officer at O'Reilly

"Beyond automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as screening resumes and scheduling interviews, AI’s predictive analytics can be used to analyze data and predict future outcomes such as a candidate’s likelihood of accepting a job offer or their potential to succeed in a particular role - revolutionizing hiring and recruiting practices. In addition, AI will be a major contributor in further helping to reduce bias in the hiring process. By being programmed to ignore information such as a candidate’s name, age, or gender on resumes, candidates will be better evaluated based on their skills and qualifications alone without any implicit bias playing a role in their assessment."

  Marisca Kooij
  Global Talent Acquisition Leader at EDB

"I am positive minded that 2024 will be a more balanced year. In Tech/Software the market seems to have stabilized a bit and some companies, including EDB, are ramping up hiring again. Candidates are cautious and if looking for a change, they will likely seek out companies that provide flexibility, good benefits and care about their employees and their well being."  

  Kimberly Saturley
  Chief Human Resources Officer at Aqua Security

"Last year posed multifaceted challenges, with layoffs, geopolitical shifts, and a dynamic macro-economic landscape. Navigating these complexities demanded agile maneuvering from organizations. Looking ahead to 2024, companies aim to stabilize and foster growth with efficiency and responsibility. Prioritizing key aspects of their people strategy, organizations will look to enhance employee experience, engagement, and culture for a thriving workplace and to aid in retention. In talent acquisition, we can expect an increased focus on AI integration in hiring processes, emphasizing critical skills and keywords in job descriptions and cover letters. Hybrid work remains a reality, and soft skills like adaptability, resilience, collaboration, and problem-solving gain heightened importance in our ever-changing global workforce."

  The Talent Acquisition team at Flywire

"We expect more companies to focus on engagement and retention efforts in 2024. This is paramount here at Flywire, where we invest in learning and growth opportunities for our global FlyMates. Likewise, another contributor to retention is our hybrid approach. Although we have offices that are attended and great hubs of collaboration, there is no mandate to go in, and we empower our FlyMates to work where they'd like. This allows for us to hire top talent globally, and retain our world class employees."


  Phil Reese
  Senior Director, Talent Acquisition at Klaviyo

"We saw many companies scaling back their teams and spending last year -- but now the tech sector is poised for a resurgence in hiring in 2024. Companies are looking for candidates directly tied to and aligned with business goals like AI-related initiatives, cybersecurity, and revenue-driving functions. That intentionality to bring in candidates who can immediately drive impact and build alongside their existing teams is definitely the approach we're taking this year, and many of my peers in other orgs are moving in the same direction. The job market is wide open for candidates ready to tell their story."

Check out these 8 book suggestions given by tech leaders on the VentureFizz Podcast since the summer.

Want more book recommendations? Make sure to check out our VentureFizz 2023 Annual Summer Reading List!

We launched another new series this year to help companies share their DEI initiatives. It is simply called DEI Spotlight. This year, we had 12 companies participate. One of the questions we ask companies is "What are they doing to build a more diverse workforce" - We compiled a slideshow that pulls together all of their responses.

Companies celebrate the holidays in lots of different ways: parties, dinners, gift exchanges, ugly sweater contests, and more! 

Here's a collection of how lots of companies across the tech industry are celebrating this holiday season.

Back in June, we launched an exciting new certification program on VentureFizz called Culture Content Certification.

As job seekers are looking for information about companies, their culture, and hiring process, we felt it was important to recognize the companies that are creating this meaningful content that features the people who work there.

Not only does it help job seekers conduct initial due diligence on the company before applying, the content is also very meaningful to help prepare for an interview.

The investment in creating this content also speaks volumes about how open and transparent the company is about its culture.

To qualify, a company needs to complete the following criteria:

• Up-to-date company page on VentureFizz
• Participated in a recent CxO Briefing video 
• Published a recent How to Land a Job at [Company] video
• At least two employee testimonials on their company page

Once the company has met all the criteria, they receive a VentureFizz Culture Content Certified badge that will appear on the company's profile page and jobs on VentureFizz.

So, without further ado, here are the fourteen companies that have met the VentureFizz Culture Content Certification in 2023!  Congrats to all on this accomplishment!

At VentureFizz, one of our goals is to help make your job easy by providing you with highly curated information. This is important, as it can be a lot of work navigating through the 1,800+ listings on the VentureFizz Job Board.

Thus, we have curated guides across various industries. Here is your list of Martech companies that are all hiring on VentureFizz. Happy Job Hunting!