When was Handshake founded?

Handshake was founded in 2014 and became a unicorn in 2021, reaching the milestone in 7 years. It raised its 1st funding round 1 year after its incorporation.

Where is Handshake located?

Handshake is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco,California.

Who is the current CEO of Handshake?

Garrett Lord of Handshake. They have also founded 1 company and are angel investors in 2 startups.

How many employees does Handshake have?

As of May 31, 2026, the latest employee count at Handshake is 8872.

Is Handshake a funded company?

Handshake is a funded company, having raised a total of $434M across 7 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a $3.5M Seed round, raised on Mar 2015.

How much is Handshake worth?

The latest valuation of Handshake is $3.5B as of Jan 19, 2022.

When was the latest funding round of Handshake?

Handshake's latest funding was a $200M Series F round on Jan 19, 2022, with participation from 12 investors.

Is Handshake a HRTech company?

The primary sector of Handshake is HRTech.

Where does Handshake rank among its competitors?

Handshake ranks 1st amongst 227 active competitors, of which 41 are funded. It stands 1st in terms of total funding among its competitors. The most recent competitor to raise funding was GetWork, which secured $845K in Feb, 2023.

Who are the top competitors of Handshake?

Handshake's top competitors include Glints, JobTeaser and WayUp. Among them, GetWork secured the most recent funding round in February, 2023.

Handshake - 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors

Handshake is a series F company based in San Francisco (United States), founded in 2014 by Garrett Lord, Ben Christensen and Scott Ringwelski. It operates as a Network connecting job seekers with employers for career development opportunities. Handshake has raised $434M in funding from investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners, Spark Capital and True Ventures, with a current valuation of $3.5B. The company has 227 active competitors, including 41 funded and 14 that have exited. Its top competitors include companies like Glints, JobTeaser and WayUp.

Company Details

Network connecting job seekers with employers for career development opportunities. This service facilitates professional recruitment by matching candidates with available positions across various industries. The platform provides tools for individuals to build profiles, access training resources, and engage with hiring organizations. Employers utilize the system to identify potential talent and manage recruitment workflows. The infrastructure supports the transition from education to employment by streamlining the discovery of internships and full-time roles.

Website: joinhandshake.com
Social
Email ID: *****@joinhandshake.com
Registered Address: San Francisco,California

Key Metrics

Founded Year

2014

Location

San Francisco, United States

Stage

Series F

Total Funding

$434M in 7 rounds

Latest Funding Round

Series F, Jan 19, 2022, $200M

Post Money Valuation

$3.5B as on Jan 19, 2022

Investors

Lightspeed Venture Partners & 20 more

Ranked

1^st among 227 active competitors

Employee Count

8,872 as on May 31, 2026

Investment & Acquisitions

Uplimit & 3 more

Similar Companies

Glints & 462 more

View Handshake's full profile

Handshake is associated with 3 legal entities given below:

Legal Entity Name	Date of Incorporation	Revenue	Latest Employee Count	Documents
STRYDER CORPORATION CIN: 465156283 , Belgium, Active	Dec 31, 1999	-	478 (As on Dec 31, 2022)	-
HANDSHAKE INTERNATIONAL UK LTD CIN: 12056216 , United Kingdom, Active	Jun 17, 2019	-	22 (As on Jan 31, 2025)
STRYDER CORP. CIN: 5466915 , United States, Active	Jan 16, 2014	-	536 (As on Dec 31, 2024)	-

Handshake has raised a total funding of $434M over 7 rounds. Its first funding round was on Mar 2015. Its latest funding round was a Series F round on Jan 19, 2022 for $200M. 12 investors participated in its latest round. Handshake has 21 institutional investors.

Here is the list of recent funding rounds of Handshake:

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Date of Funding	Funding Amount	Round Name	Post-Money Valuation	Revenue Multiple	Lead Investors	Other Investors
Jan 19, 2022	$200M	Series F	$3.5B	-	Coatue	Base10 Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Spark Capital, True Ventures, GGV Capital, Kleiner Perkins, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Emerson Collective, Reach Capital, Valiant Peregrine Fund, EQT
May 12, 2021	$80M	Series E	$1.5B	-	Lightspeed Venture Partners, Spark Capital	True Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Emerson Collective, GGV Capital, Coatue, EQT
Oct 20, 2020	$80M	Series D	-	-	GGV Capital	Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Spark Capital, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Emerson Collective, True Ventures, Imaginable Futures, EQT

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View details of Handshake's funding rounds and investors

The founders of Handshake are Garrett Lord, Ben Christensen and Scott Ringwelski. Garrett Lord is the CEO of Handshake.

Here are the details of Handshake's key team members:

Garrett Lord: Co-Founder & CEO of Handshake and founder of 1 other company. They are also an angel investor in 2 startups and serve on the board of 1 company.
Contact Info: 1 email address
Ben Christensen: Co-Founder of Handshake and founder of 1 other company. They serve on the boards of 2 companies.
Contact Info: 1 email address
Scott Ringwelski: Co-Founder of Handshake and founder of 1 other company. They serve on the board of 1 company.
Contact Info: 1 email address

Handshake's Board of Directors

Handshake's board has 13 active members. Alastair Mitchell, Garrett Lord, Mamoon Hamid, Megan Quinn, Ben Christensen, Scott Ringwelski, Brett Skale, Luke Baxter, Malthe Sigurdsson, Brian Kreiner, Margaret H. Georgiadis, Jonathan Stull and Christine Cruzvergara are independent board members.

Here is the list of Handshake's board of directors:

Name	Type	Representing	Status	Duration
Alastair Mitchell	Independent board member	-	Current	7y 8m
Garrett Lord	Independent board member	-	Current	10y 4m
Mamoon Hamid	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 8m
Megan Quinn	Independent board member	-	Current	9y 6m
Ben Christensen	Independent board member	-	Current	10y 4m
Scott Ringwelski	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 8m
Brett Skale	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 1m
Luke Baxter	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 8m
Malthe Sigurdsson	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 1m
Brian Kreiner	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 1m
Margaret H. Georgiadis	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 1m
Jonathan Stull	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 8m
Christine Cruzvergara	Independent board member	-	Current	5y 1m

View details of Handshake's Founder profiles and Board Members

Handshake's employee count trend

Handshake has 8,872 employees as of May 26. Here is Handshake's employee count trend over the years:

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Top competitors of Handshake include Glints, JobTeaser and WayUp. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of Handshake, ranked by Tracxn score:

Rank	Company Details	Short Description	Total Funding	Investors	Tracxn Score
1st	Handshake 2014, San Francisco (United States), Series F	Network connecting job seekers with employers for career development opportunities	$434M	Spark Capital, Notable Capital & 19 others	78/100
2nd	Glints 2013, Singapore (Singapore), Series D	Online job board platform for graduate jobs	$82.3M	PERSOL, DCM Ventures & 31 others	73/100
3rd	JobTeaser 2008, Paris (France), Series C	Online job board for graduates	$75.9M	Highland Europe, Seventure Partners & 4 others	64/100
4th	WayUp 2014, New York City (United States), Acquired	Online job board for graduate jobs	$28.8M	BoxGroup, General Catalyst & 17 others	56/100
5th	GetWork 2019, Gurugram (India), Seed	Provider of a platform connecting freshers with companies for hiring	$2.4M	Artha Venture Fund, Samarthya Investment Advisors ... & 13 others	53/100
6th	InternMatch 2009, San Francisco (United States), Series A	Online portal that connects companies with internship seekers	$6.65M	Artis Ventures, Oakhouse Partners & 4 others	49/100
7th	Debut App 2015, London (United Kingdom), Seed	Careers app for students and graduates	$9.83M	Initial Capital, Entree Capital & 6 others	49/100
8th	Dajie 2008, Beijing (China), Acquired	Online job board for graduates	$76M	NLVC, SoftBank Capital & 8 others	48/100
9th	Oliv 2013, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Series A	Online job board for students and fresh graduates	$3.34M	Orbit Ventures, MBRIF & 1 others	45/100
10th	Looksharp 2008, San Francisco (United States), Acquired	WayUp: Connecting students and recent grads with internships and jobs	$14.8M	Artis Ventures, Social Leverage & 5 others	44/100

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Handshake has made 1 investments in companies including Spindle AI. Handshake has also acquired 3 companies including Uplimit and Cleanlab AI.

Here is the list of investments & acquisitions:

Filter this list

Date of Investment/Acquisition	Type	Company Name	Founded Year	Location
Jun 30, 2026	Acquisition	Uplimit	2015	San Francisco (United States)
Jan 28, 2026	Acquisition	Cleanlab AI	2021	Cambridge (United States)
Apr 13, 2022	Acquisition	TalentSpace	2017	Berlin (Germany)