Catapult’s HCM Practice Continues to Grow

July 28, 2014, Posted by Phil Wohl

Earlier this month, Catapult closed its 5th HCM-related transaction when we advised MoBolt on its sale to Indeed.  This deal is generating tremendous buzz in the HR technology community because it exemplifies the theme that every HCM software vendor is focused on: the shift to mobile.

MoBolt has developed a best-in-class solution for leading employers such as Nike, Deloitte and Disney to accept mobile job applications. Sounds simple enough, right?  Well it’s not.  Many employers and software vendors have struggled mightily to get the mobile job application process right and have now finally conceded that simply re-purposing their web-based form will not work—the mobile job application must be completely redesigned and re-imagined.

While the front end-work is certainly challenging (given the combination of complex job applications and the small mobile form factor), MoBolt’s magic really happens on the back-end.  Simply stated, a MoBolt-enabled career site can accept a mobile job application on any platform and deliver it to any Applicant Tracking System (ATS), SaaS or on-premise.  With over half of all job searches originating on mobile, enabling MoBolt’s Smart Apply will give Indeed’s customers access to the entire candidate pool—not just the Luddites still applying via the desktop!

Key Trends

As the Indeed-Mobolt transaction demonstrates, the HCM market is rapidly moving from “mobile also” to “mobile first.” But this is only one of many important trends that have led Catapult to focus so much time and attention on the HCM space.  Other key trends that driving the next incarnation of the $8Bn HCM market include:

  • Rapid migration away from on-premise systems in favor of cloud solutions
  • Application of big data analytics across all areas of the HCM landscape
  • Balance of power shifting from the HR department to the workforce
  • The “consumerization” of HCM, led by a new generation of social/collaboration tools
  • Enterprises (and SMBs) opting for single-vendor HCM suite over best-of-breed point solutions

Catapult has put our knowledge and relationships in this space to good use in recent years, working on several important HCM M&A transactions:

Sale of MoBolt to Indeed:  mobile job applications and analytics

Sale of Instantis to Oracle: enterprise project portfolio management and workforce management

Upland Software’s acquisition of Tenrox: resource and project management

Sale of Leverage Software to Telligent: enterprise social collaboration

Sale of Sigma Data Systems to NeoGov:  employee assessment and selection

We are currently covering over 300 HCM software companies across multiple key segments including Recruiting, Performance Management, Learning Management, Strategic Workforce Planning, HR Analytics and Internal Collaboration, among many others.

M&A and Financing Activity

We have never been more excited about the future of the HCM market. In the last year, Indeed, LinkedIn, Oracle, SAP, Workday, Monster, Yahoo, Infor, Netsuite, Ultimate Software, Kronos and SAP have all made acquisitions aimed at building out their HCM capabilities.  The financing marketplace has been white hot as well, with several $10MM+ financing rounds in the first half of 2014 alone, including:

erecruit (recruiting platform for staffing firms) $25.0MM

Visier (HR analytics) $25.5MM

Gild (technical talent recruiting) $13.5MM

Hired (talent marketplace) $15.0MM

ZenPayroll (cloud-based payroll management) $20.0MM

RiseSmart (career transition solutions) $11.0MM

AtTask (work planning & performance management) $38.0MM

Zenefits (payroll, benefits & insurance) $17.1MM

The heightened levels of financing and M&A activity, combined with the accelerated pace of product innovation have combined to make the “sleepy” HCM sector once of the most dynamic areas within enterprise software. We welcome the opportunity to share with you our perspectives on the market and its key players.

About the author

Phil Wohl is a Partner at Catapult Advisors, an investment bank providing M&A and capital raising advice to leading software and internet companies. https://www.catapultadvisors.com