Alongside Announces $8-Million In Growth Funding
MONCTON–Alongside CEO and co-founder Yves Boudreau said its $8-million bid to modernize his own HR technology and Atlantic Canada’s largest job search engine is a serious risk that’s paying off.
The Moncton-based HR firm’s funding comes mostly from San Francisco venture capital firm 500 Global, with the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and TD Bank Group also chipping in.
The funding announcement comes two months after Alongside purchased Atlantic Canada’s largest online job board, CareerBeacon. Boudreau says that purchase helped draw some of the new funding.
“We encountered difficult situations, without being too specific, in 2019. They just completely derailed the optimism and momentum we had as a company because we struggled mightily to realign the business back to the original vision,” said Boudreau.
RELATED: Moncton’s Alongside Named a Top 25 Up And Coming Canadian Company
In a LinkedIn post, Boudreau described those troubles as the “slow death” of Alongside, with the company losing money and talent, as staff dwindled from 14 to four.
“It became challenging, over time, keeping some of those employees and while I’m excited for them moving onto bigger, better things, we were on the verge. We could have kept going, but it wasn’t what we signed up for,” he told Huddle.
Boudreau wrote that he and Co-founder Benoit Bourque decided to make the leap and acquire Career Beacon. At the time they weren’t sure where they’d come up with the money but Boudreau wrote that, following several turbulent months, they completed the acquisition.
Alongside now has a staff of 17 and expects a staff of 20 by the end of February. Boudreau added he hopes to employ 27 or 28 by the end of 2022.
“We’re making bigger moves and taking bigger risks–a significant portion of that acquisition is under debt,” he said.
“Those hard times haven’t faded our confidence in the future and haven’t shied us away from taking big risks again. That’s why the funding, for us, is a key moment in history for the company. Even after all that adversity we went through, we’re still as hungry and driven as we were from day one.”
Plans Going Forward
Boudreau said that the world of work has changed, with the pandemic creating major shifts like spiking rates of remote work and resignations – something employers will have to adapt to.
“What you’ll see over the next few months and years is that employers are going to have to be better at projecting why someone should go work with them,” he said.
RELATED: Moncton Firm Acquires Leading Atlantic Canadian Job Board
Information released by Alongside said the funding will help the company “modernize, differentiate, and innovate” Atlantic Canada’s HR tech by making things easier for both employers and job-seekers.
Boudreau said he plans to consolidate the different offerings of CareerBeacon and Alongside in 2022.
“We’re already modernizing parts of CareerBeacon to better guide job seekers and employers to the tools and resources they need to be better at positioning their offers and attracting talent,” he said.
“All of our tools and products are going through a full revamp. It’s a combo of things we’re working on.”
Alongside has plans to create career path planning tools, talent communities, job-seeker tips and tools and an easy application process, through a modern and refined experience – as well as job posting analyzers, showcases, social sharing, employer talent communities and resume matching and recommendations for employers.
“We’re going to exist to help companies position themselves to be desirable, revisit everything from benefits and compensation strategies to competitivity. They’re not only competing with people down the street -they’re competing with companies all over the world.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].