Phenom is already one of Greater Philadelphia's startup success stories, but CEO Mahe Bayireddi wants to build it into a tech giant.
The Ambler human resources tech firm has grown to around 1,500 employees, expanding its headcount and customer base by about 25% to 30% annually in recent years, according Bayireddi. He sees opportunity to increase the company's impact by continuing to harness artificial intelligence, a technology Phenom has been using for the better part of a decade.
"We help a billion people find the right work; that's what our purpose is," Bayireddi said. "How can we stay true to that and build a humongous company, nothing short [of that]?"
Founded in 2010, Phenom's HR platform uses AI, data and machine learning to streamline the hiring process from recruiters to candidates. About 600 million people will apply for jobs this year on Phenom's platform, according to Bayireddi, and the company has more than 500 enterprises as customers.
Bayireddi said he wants Phenom to take "leaps and bounds" in the AI space, building on its existing expertise in that area to drive exponential growth.
The company's Phenom X+ platform was released a year ago and is generative AI made specifically for the HR industry. It provides personalized job application experiences for candidates and existing employees. For hiring teams, it can generate job descriptions, improve search engine optimization, generate communication with candidates and can highlight best candidates for an opening. For talent management departments, it can identify flight risks, potential succession plans, and upskilling and reskilling opportunities.
Bayireddi wants to see Phenom X+ become ubiquitous in the HR industry.
"Over a period of time it becomes a standard," he said.
Phenom last raised a $100 million Series D round three years ago that put its valuation at $1.4 billion. Bayireddi declined to disclose Phenom's updated valuation or current revenue numbers, but said his goal is to build a company worth multiple billions of dollars in the next five years. He said revenue has been roughly tracking at the same 25% to 30% growth rate as headcount and customers since the Series D.
"In five years the company will be at least 10 times the size of what it is; that is the goal," Bayireddi said, adding that would mean billions in revenue.
The company hit a break-even point last year, according to its CEO. It previously made three acquisitions in the span of six months in the second half of 2020 and early 2021, then acquired German tech startup Tandemploy two years ago. But Phenom has been quiet on the mergers and acquisitions front since then.
Bayireddi said the company is always looking for opportunities to add products that can "accelerate [Phenom's] purpose," but he didn't specify any M&A plans in the works.
After Phenom's Series D, Bayireddi told the Business Journal that an initial public offering would be in the company's future. Like many quick-growing startup unicorns during the pandemic, Phenom has pumped the brakes on that idea with IPO markets drying up through most of 2023 and into 2024.
"The markets, when they open up nobody knows," Bayireddi said. "We're not in that particular thought process. Build the company long-term, and that'll happen whenever it's supposed to."
