OfferZen raises R82 million in funding round, CEO steps down

OfferZen has closed a €4 million (R82 million) funding round from top-tier investors.

At the same time, the software developer hiring marketplace had announced significant changes within the company.

OfferZen said 2023 was a year marked by adversity for tech companies as global venture capital funding plummeted to less than a third of its 2021 peak.

It said it noticed the struggles of its customers firsthand, leading it to introduce a substantial change to its business model early in the year.

In addition to its traditional per-hire charge, OfferZen introduced a fixed-fee unlimited hiring subscription, which it said was designed to ease the financial burden on tech companies.

“It’s always scary making a big change to your business, but fortunately, Unlimited worked,” said OfferZen cofounder Philip Joubert.

“It’s easy to budget for, competitively priced and we hoped it would relieve some of the pressure our customers were feeling. A significant number of our customers have moved to the subscription model over the last year.”

Joubert said securing the €4M in funding from investors who share their long-term vision is a testament to the OfferZen team’s hard work.

The investment round saw participation from Invenfin, represented by partners Peter van der Zee and Theo van den Berg, and AI Capital, with partners Roger Grobler, Nic Kohler, Willem Roos, and Michael Jordaan.

OfferZen also announced that Joubert was stepping down after three years as CEO.

He will hand the company’s reins over to Matt Beck, previously VP of marketing.

“Matt has been instrumental in levelling up our business for scale, loves our brand and has been a great champion of our values. I’m glad to be able to call him my new boss,” Joubert stated.

“I’m really excited about this year,” Beck said.

“Our customers can expect the most significant updates to the platform yet in the coming months as we’re introducing completely new ways for candidates and companies to connect using AI.”