Startups > Gem

Gem

Gem helps recruiting teams build and manage candidate relationships at scale.

Series C $148M total Founded 2017 United States

Gem is a talent acquisition platform that combines candidate relationship management (CRM) with applicant tracking system (ATS) functionality to streamline recruiting workflows. It aggregates candidate data from sources like LinkedIn, automates outreach and follow-ups, and provides team collaboration features with automatic pipeline tracking. Built by former engineering leaders from Dropbox and Facebook, Gem serves over 800 companies including Spotify, Lyft, DoorDash, and Slack, filling the gap between LinkedIn's candidate databases and HRIS systems like Workday.

Problem solved

Recruiting teams lack a centralized platform to build relationships with candidates over time, automate outreach, track interactions, and prevent duplicate outreach across team members.

Target customer

Mid-market to enterprise recruiting teams at fast-growing tech companies and organizations with high-volume hiring needs; particularly companies with 50+ person recruiting operations.

Website LinkedIn Crunchbase

Founders

Steven Bartel

CEO & Co-Founder

Engineering leader at Dropbox who saw gaps in recruiting technology; MIT graduate and met co-founder Nick Bushak at university.

Nick Bushak

CTO & Co-Founder

Led product engineering teams at Facebook and worked with Facebook's internal recruitment software; understood the gap for companies without such resources.

Funding history

Seed Undisclosed 2017 Led by Y Combinator

Series A Undisclosed March 2019 Led by Accel

Series B $37M July 2020 Led by Greylock Partners · Accel

Series C $100M September 2021 Led by ICONIQ · Greylock Partners, Accel, Sapphire Ventures, Meritech Capital

Total raised: $148M

Industries

Recruiting Software

Pricing

Per-recruiter, per-month subscription with custom enterprise pricing. Published plans include Essentials ($139/mo), Professional ($199/mo), and Startups ($270/yr for up to 10 FTE). CRM pricing starts at $3,600 annually per user. Free tier available for startups under 15 employees.

Notable customers

Spotify, Lyft, Affirm, Peloton, Gusto, Roblox, Robinhood, Carta, Slack, DoorDash, Snap, Dropbox, Pinterest, Wayfair, Nasdaq, Cisco, Tropic

Integrations

LinkedIn, Gmail, Slack, Salesforce, Workday, HubSpot, Oracle HCM, DocuSign, and 300+ other platforms

Website

gem.com/

Competitors

Lever

Broader platform with 300+ integrations covering more of the recruiting workflow; more established in ATS space but less focused on relationship management.

Beamery

Talent engagement platform with stronger AI/matching capabilities; more enterprise-focused with heavier implementation requirements.

Jobvite

Full recruiting suite with broader career site and employer branding features; more comprehensive but less specialized in CRM-first approach.

Workable

Affordable ATS with strong small-to-mid market focus; lighter on automation and candidate relationship management features.

Why this matters: Gem achieved unicorn status ($1.2B valuation in 2021) in just 4 years by addressing a critical recruiting pain point with a founder team that deeply understood the problem from leadership roles at Dropbox and Facebook. The company's ability to secure marquee customers like Spotify and DoorDash while raising $148M validates the massive TAM in recruiting technology where teams still rely on fragmented tools.

Best for: Growing recruiting teams at tech companies and high-growth organizations that need to manage large candidate pipelines, automate outreach, and ensure team-wide visibility into recruitment progress.

Use cases

De-duplication at scale

Large recruiting teams working with multiple sources struggle with accidentally reaching out to the same candidate twice through different team members or channels. Gem tracks every touchpoint automatically and alerts teams before duplicate outreach occurs, saving time and protecting brand reputation.

Consolidating recruiting tools

Companies using separate point solutions for sourcing, CRM, and ATS experience data silos and manual data entry. Tropic reduced their recruiting tech spend from $65,000 to $22,000 annually by consolidating on Gem's all-in-one platform.

Automating candidate outreach workflows

Recruiters spend significant time manually sending emails and scheduling follow-ups across candidate lists. Gem automates email and SMS outreach, sequences follow-ups, and surfaces the most engaged candidates to reduce manual work and improve response rates.

Enabling hiring manager visibility

Hiring managers lack visibility into the recruiting pipeline beyond forwarded emails and verbal updates. Gem syncs all candidate interactions automatically to provide managers real-time pipeline visibility and recruiting team performance insights.

Alternatives

Lever Choose Lever if you need a more comprehensive recruiting suite with deeper integrations and stronger ATS capabilities; choose Gem if you prioritize ease of use and candidate relationship management.

Beamery Choose Beamery for advanced AI matching and talent engagement features; choose Gem for faster implementation and stronger focus on team collaboration and automation.

Workable Choose Workable for budget-conscious small-to-mid market teams seeking an affordable ATS; choose Gem for larger teams needing advanced CRM and automation capabilities.

FAQ

What does Gem do? +

Gem is a talent acquisition platform combining candidate relationship management and applicant tracking system functionality. It helps recruiting teams aggregate candidate data from multiple sources like LinkedIn, automate outreach and follow-ups, track all interactions, collaborate across team members, and maintain visibility into the recruiting pipeline. Everything syncs with best-in-class data integrity to prevent duplicate outreach.

How much does Gem cost? +

Gem uses per-recruiter, per-month pricing with published plans starting at $139/month (Essentials) to $199/month (Professional). Enterprise plans include custom pricing. Startups with fewer than 15 employees can access Gem free. Annual billing offers discounts, and volume discounts are available for larger teams.

What are the main alternatives to Gem? +

Top alternatives include Lever (broader recruiting suite with 300+ integrations), Beamery (AI-powered talent engagement), Jobvite (full recruiting platform), and Workable (affordable ATS for smaller teams). Each emphasizes different aspects of recruiting—Gem's strength is specifically in candidate relationship management and team collaboration.

Who uses Gem? +

Gem serves over 800 companies including tech leaders like Spotify, Lyft, DoorDash, Slack, Dropbox, Pinterest, Roblox, and Robinhood. Primary customers are mid-market to enterprise recruiting teams at fast-growing companies with significant hiring volume and teams of 50+ recruiters.

How does Gem compare to Lever? +

Both are CRM/ATS platforms focused on candidate relationship management, but Lever is broader with 300+ integrations covering more of the recruiting workflow, while Gem is more specialized and easier to implement. Lever suits larger enterprises needing comprehensive integration; Gem suits teams prioritizing relationship management and rapid deployment.

What integrations does Gem support? +

Gem integrates with LinkedIn, Gmail, Slack, Salesforce, Workday, and 300+ other platforms including HubSpot, Oracle HCM, and DocuSign. It syncs with leading ATS systems and job boards to centralize candidate data.

Is there a free version of Gem? +

Yes, Gem offers a free 'Free for Startups' program for companies with fewer than 15 full-time employees. This includes core sourcing and outreach automation features, allowing startups to evaluate the platform before committing to paid plans.