Seaplane Ventures is pleased to introduce our second investment, micro1. micro1 bundles a global talent network with a subscription model to help companies source and employ top-tier software engineers from around the world. The business has head-turning early traction and we’re excited to be involved.
micro1’s founder, Ali Ansari, is young but accomplished. Ali is a 3rd-time founder, having started and sold two startups. He also graduated a year early from the nation’s top-ranked public university, Cal Berkeley, to focus on micro1.
micro1 saves corporate customers time, money, and stress by helping them source and vet talent and then managing all the mundane but essential elements of employing talent abroad. The company uses a mix of testing tools to vet talent plus has a person-in-the-loop to assess soft skills. Once engineers are all set and working with micro1’s customers, micro1 handles all the global payroll, compliance, and benefits headaches that go with employing talent abroad. The core Talent model is subscription-based but micro1 also does some one-off projects via its Labs division.
The recruiting market for tech is enormous – one estimate pegs the US market at ≈$18B – and should continue to grow over the long-term at healthy rates. micro1 is also on the right side of industry trends with remote work rising, 72% of tech companies having talent work from outside a company-owned office, and 29% of US companies with fewer than 50 employees doing at least some outsourcing.
We like that micro1 is investing for growth during an industry downturn – notable rivals are cutting staff rather than hiring – and that its technology is current and AI-enabled. We’re also happy to have a strong group of fellow investors involved including Launch, Browder Capital, and Z Fellows.
We’re excited for Ali and the team and look forward to supporting them in the years to come! On that note, we've partnered with micro1 to provide for startups in our network to receive up 240 hours of free developer software time via micro! Check out this link for details.
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