Startups > Fountain

Fountain

Fountain helps enterprises hire and manage hourly frontline workers at scale.

Series C $225M total Founded 2015 San Francisco, California 262 employees

Fountain is an applicant tracking system (ATS) and talent platform purpose-built for high-volume frontline hiring in retail, logistics, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing. The platform automates the entire hiring pipeline—from applications and screening to interview scheduling and offer letters—reducing median time-to-hire from 36 days to 8.7 days. Unlike legacy ATS vendors designed for corporate roles, Fountain evolved specifically for the hourly and gig economy workforce, which comprises nearly 70% of the global labor market.

Problem solved

Enterprise companies managing high-volume hourly hiring lack specialized ATS tools and rely on spreadsheets, manual screening, and fragmented processes, extending time-to-hire to 36+ days.

Target customer

Enterprise and mid-market companies in retail, logistics, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing with high-volume hourly hiring needs (500+ annual hires)

Website LinkedIn Crunchbase

Founders

Jeremy Cai

Co-Founder

Thiel Fellow and Y Combinator S15 alum; previously worked at on-demand companies Shyp and Game Plan.

Keith Ryu

Co-Founder

Brings extensive product expertise in HR onboarding and workforce management.

Sean Behr

CEO

Appointed CEO in 2020; founded fleet infrastructure platform Stratim, served as SVP at Adap.tv (acquired by AOL), and held leadership roles at Shopping.com.

Funding history

Series A $34M 2015 Led by Y Combinator · Early investors

Series A $9.1M July 2017 Led by Origin Ventures · Uncork Capital

Series B $23M October 2019 Led by DCM · 51job, Origin Ventures, Uncork Capital

Series C $85M November 2021 Led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 · B Capital Group, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, DCM, Origin Ventures, Commerce Ventures, SemperVirens Venture Capital, Uncork Capital

Series C Extension $100M June 2022 Led by B Capital · Existing investors

Total raised: $225M

Industries

Business Automation Productivity Software

Pricing

Custom enterprise pricing with tiered plans (Core, Source, Qualify, Connect, Protect). No free plan; free trial available. Specific pricing not publicly disclosed.

Notable customers

Uber, Amazon DSP, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Stitch Fix, Deliveroo, Safeway, UPS, Intelycare, Liveops, Just Eat Takeaway, sweetgreen, Flink, John Lewis & Partners

Integrations

51job, custom onboarding and compliance integrations

Website

fountain.com/

Competitors

Workday

Enterprise-focused HCM platform with broader HR capabilities; Fountain specializes exclusively in high-volume frontline hiring.

Paycom

Broad HRIS and payroll platform with ATS component; Fountain is purpose-built for hourly and gig economy hiring.

iCIMS

Enterprise ATS serving corporate and mid-market; lacks Fountain's specialization in high-volume hourly hiring workflows.

SmartRecruiters

General-purpose ATS for corporate recruiting; Fountain differentiates through deep optimization for frontline, logistics, and retail sectors.

Jobvite

Mid-market ATS with corporate focus; Fountain offers superior time-to-hire and candidate volume handling for hourly roles.

Why this matters: Fountain identified and captured a massive market gap: nearly 70% of the global workforce is hourly, yet legacy ATS vendors remained focused on corporate hiring. With $225M raised at near-unicorn valuation and 250+ enterprise customers processing millions of applicants annually, Fountain is establishing the category standard for frontline hiring infrastructure at a time when supply chain and service economy expansion drives urgent talent needs.

Best for: Enterprise retailers, logistics companies, hospitality chains, and manufacturers hiring 500+ frontline workers annually who need to reduce hiring cycle time and eliminate spreadsheet-based processes.

Use cases

Retail Chain Mass Hiring

A major retailer opening 50 new stores needs to hire 5,000 hourly workers in 90 days. Fountain automates application screening, scheduling, and offer generation, reducing per-hire administrative time by 70% and cutting overall hiring cycle from 8 weeks to 2 weeks.

Logistics Network Onboarding at Scale

A logistics company managing contractors across 100+ facilities uses Fountain to automate driver vetting, background checks, and compliance documentation. ML-driven screening surfaces qualified candidates 10x faster than manual review, enabling rapid fleet scaling.

Hospitality Group Seasonal Staffing

A hospitality company managing seasonal hiring across 200 locations uses Fountain to handle 50,000+ applications during peak season. Automated knockout questions and scheduling reduce hiring manager burden by 60% while maintaining quality.

Alternatives

Workday Choose Workday if you need an integrated HCM platform with payroll, benefits, and learning management beyond ATS capabilities.

iCIMS Choose iCIMS if you prioritize enterprise flexibility and broader recruiting workflows over specialized hourly hiring optimization.

SmartRecruiters Choose SmartRecruiters if you need a modern, AI-powered ATS with strong candidate experience focus for mid-market corporate hiring.

FAQ

What does Fountain do? +

Fountain is an ATS and talent platform designed for high-volume hourly hiring in retail, logistics, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing. It automates the entire hiring pipeline—applications, screening, knockout questions, interview scheduling, and offer letters—reducing median time-to-hire from 36 days to 8.7 days. The platform uses machine learning to analyze candidate data and help companies optimize their hiring processes.

How much does Fountain cost? +

Fountain uses custom enterprise pricing with tiered plan options (Core, Source, Qualify, Connect, Protect). Specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company offers a free trial so customers can evaluate the platform before committing.

What are alternatives to Fountain? +

Main alternatives include Workday (broader HCM platform), iCIMS (enterprise ATS with flexible workflows), SmartRecruiters (modern AI-powered ATS), Paycom (HRIS with ATS), and Jobvite (mid-market ATS). Fountain differentiates by specializing exclusively in high-volume frontline hiring.

Who uses Fountain? +

Fountain serves 250+ enterprise customers including Uber, Amazon DSP, Chipotle, Stitch Fix, Deliveroo, Safeway, UPS, Intelycare, and Liveops. The platform has processed 16M+ applicants in 12 months and helped customers hire 2M+ workers. Target customers are enterprises and mid-market companies with 500+ annual hourly hires.

How does Fountain compare to Workday? +

Workday is a comprehensive HCM platform covering payroll, benefits, learning, and recruiting for corporate roles. Fountain is a specialized ATS focused exclusively on high-volume hourly hiring with features optimized for retail, logistics, and hospitality sectors. Fountain reduces hiring time by 75% compared to industry average; Workday excels at integrated enterprise HR management.