Lightcast
Lightcast is a KKR-backed labor market intelligence company providing software, APIs, and consulting services to enterprises, educational institutions, and government agencies, covering 165 countries with over 18 billion compiled data points.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersMoscow, United States
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Lightcast does
Lightcast is a private labor market intelligence company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Moscow, Idaho, backed by private equity firm KKR through Obsidian BG Holdings LP. The company has compiled more than 18 billion labor market data points—including job postings, career profiles, and compensation data—into a proprietary knowledge asset built on 25 years of data classification expertise, proprietary skills and occupation taxonomies (O*NET-SOC, NOC 2021, ANZSCO 2022, SOC), and machine learning classifiers achieving approximately 90% accuracy in occupation coding. Its data footprint covers 165 countries representing 99% of global GDP, with over 100 million de-duplicated global profiles.
Lightcast monetizes this data through three delivery channels: (1) subscription-based software products including the Analyst web platform, Career Coach, Widget Builder, and Alumni Pathways modules; (2) public REST APIs (Skills, Titles, Companies, JPA, Profiles, Core LMI, Occupational Earnings, IPEDS, Compensation) plus Data Shares via Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, Azure, and SFTP; and (3) professional services delivered by in-house data scientists and consultants. The company serves three primary customer segments—Enterprise (67 of the Fortune 100), Education (1,000+ institutions), and Government/Workforce Development (775+ organizations)—with secondary exposure to Healthcare, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Sales & Marketing, and Staffing verticals.
Since 2023, Lightcast has executed an aggressive acquisition-driven growth strategy under KKR ownership, absorbing Gazelle.ai (2023), eIMPACT (2024), Stratigens (2024), Rhetorik (2025), Skill Collective (2025), and Simply (2025), substantially expanding its UK/European footprint and adding skills-transformation consulting and data visualization capabilities. The company employs over 600 professionals globally and holds ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA, and TX RAMP certifications.
Lightcast firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lightcast
- Legal name
- Lightcast, LLC
- Website
- https://lightcast.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- Lightcast is a KKR-backed labor market intelligence company providing software, APIs, and consulting services to enterprises, educational institutions, and government agencies, covering 165 countries with over 18 billion compiled data points.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lightcast industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Labor Market Intelligence Software
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI/ML Solution Integration & MLOps Enablement (BPAEAAAJ)
Keywords
Where Lightcast is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Moscow
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Lightcast business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription-based Software Services: Annual subscription access to Lightcast Analyst software platform, providing interactive maps, graphs, and data exploration tools. Licenses are typically sold per seat or organization-wide with named user access.
- Professional Services: Consulting services where Lightcast consultants and data scientists apply advanced labor market information to client questions, providing measurable strategies with clear roadmap for growth.
- Career Coach & Widget Builder: Subscription-based career exploration and data visualization tools for educational institutions, hosted by Lightcast with implementation services.
- Business Contact Data Products: Contact Products including API access to Profiles (Global and US - Names and Contact Info), providing business contact information, names, and related profile data for B2B lead generation and CRM enrichment.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise SaaS subscription with API access and professional services |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
Lightcast product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lightcast provides a global labor market intelligence platform built on more than 18 billion data points compiled over 25 years, including job postings, career profiles, and compensation data across 165+ countries. The company delivers its data through a web-based analytics application (Analyst), a portfolio of REST APIs (Skills, Titles, Companies, JPA, Profiles, Core LMI, Occupational Earnings, IPEDS, Compensation), cloud-based Data Shares via Snowflake/Databricks/BigQuery/Azure, and professional consulting services. Proprietary skills and occupation taxonomies along with machine learning classifiers (~90% accuracy) underpin all offerings, serving enterprise, education, and government customers.
Product overview
Lightcast provides a comprehensive labor market data platform with multiple delivery mechanisms: web-based software (Analyst, Career Coach, Widget Builder), API access (Skills, Titles, Companies, JPA, Profiles, Core LMI, Occupational Earnings, IPEDS, Compensation APIs), and cloud-based Data Shares via Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, and Azure. The platform covers 165+ countries representing 99% of world GDP, with over 18 billion labor market data points. Solutions serve Enterprise (workforce planning, talent analytics), Education (career guidance, alumni insights), Government (economic development), Healthcare, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Sales & Marketing, and Staffing sectors. The portfolio includes acquired brands eIMPACT (data visualization), Stratigens (talent intelligence), and Skill Collective (skills transformation consulting).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Lightcast Analyst Web-based analytics platform enabling users to explore labor market data through interactive maps and graphs, with access to job postings, career profiles, and compensation data across 165+ countries. Sold via annual subscription licensed per organization or seat. Used by enterprise, education, and government buyers for workforce intelligence and research.
- Lightcast APIs Suite of REST API endpoints providing programmatic access to Lightcast's labor market data, including Skills API, Titles API, Companies API, Job Postings API (JPA), Profiles API, Core LMI API, Occupational Earnings API, IPEDS API, and Compensation API. Rate-limited endpoints enable developers and enterprise data teams to integrate Lightcast data into custom applications.
- Data Share
Quantifiable outcome
- 300% increase in international data coverage from 41 to 165 countries
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Lightcast
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Lightcast technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability4 records
Feature4 records
Lightcast partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and core.
- TallostrategicPartnership where Lightcast provides Tallo access to over 2 million live job listings, powering the digital career platform for individuals aged 13-30. Tallo serves over 2 million users across all 50 U.S. states with Lightcast data supporting their Career Navigator and mobile app features.
- Opportunity@WorkcorePartnership to integrate STARs insights into Lightcast's workforce data software, promoting skills-first hiring in the US labor market. The new filter helps companies identify candidates without requiring a bachelor's degree, expanding opportunities for skilled workers with alternative training pathways. Integration implemented across Lightcast platforms starting March 2026.
- MetropolisIQstrategicStrategic partnership to integrate Lightcast's labor market data into MetropolisIQ's MIQ Site Select platform, enhancing AI-driven site selection decisions for real estate and business investment. Collaboration aims to improve accuracy of regional economic analysis amid dynamic economic environment.
- GuildstrategicJoint research partnership producing the Talent Resilience Index (TRI) to measure workforce mobility and adaptability in the U.S. labor market. Report highlights economic resilience implications of declining workforce mobility since 2016 amid disruptions from AI, demographics, and economic uncertainty.
Scale indicators8 records
Lightcast competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Revelio Labs: Revelio Labs provides workforce intelligence built on de-identified employee records and labor market data, competing head-to-head with Lightcast's talent analytics and labor market intelligence offerings for enterprise workforce planning and economic research buyers.
- TalentNeuron (Gartner): TalentNeuron (now part of Gartner) delivers talent intelligence and workforce planning analytics comparable to Lightcast Analyst, including supply/demand modeling, skills mapping, and location analytics for global enterprises - directly overlapping Lightcast's enterprise segment.
- LinkUp: LinkUp is a labor market data company that indexes job listings directly from employer websites rather than aggregators, providing a competing job-posting dataset used by economists, governments, and enterprises for market intelligence analogous to Lightcast's JPA dataset.
- Eightfold AI: Eightfold AI operates a talent intelligence platform built on a global skills graph, competing directly with Lightcast's skills taxonomy and APIs in talent acquisition, workforce planning, and skills-based hiring use cases for Fortune-level enterprises.
Broad incumbents
- LinkedIn (Microsoft): LinkedIn operates the largest professional network and publishes LinkedIn Economic Graph labor insights, competing with Lightcast in workforce analytics and talent intelligence at scale for enterprise and government buyers, with significantly broader scope than Lightcast's specialized data offering.
- Indeed (Recruit Holdings): Indeed, owned by Recruit Holdings, operates the world's largest job site and Hiring Lab research arm, producing labor market publications and workforce data that overlap with Lightcast's job posting analytics, employer branding, and economic research use cases.
- Workday: Workday provides HCM and workforce planning as part of a broader enterprise platform, including Illuminate data products and skills cloud capabilities that increasingly overlap with Lightcast's workforce intelligence and skills taxonomy offerings.
Emerging players
- Visier: Visier is a workforce analytics platform focused on people analytics for mid-market and enterprise customers, providing headcount, attrition, and skills-gap analytics that intersect with Lightcast's enterprise workforce planning value proposition.
- Crunchr: Crunchr is a European-headquartered people analytics platform providing workforce insights to multinational employers, competing with Lightcast in regional workforce analytics with strong overlap in skills-based planning use cases.
Others
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): The BLS publishes free authoritative US labor market statistics (CES, OES, JOLTS) that Lightcast complements and benchmarks against; as a data source and ecosystem participant, BLS sets the floor on price for certain workforce intelligence use cases and influences buyer expectations.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lightcast social profiles
Digital presenceLightcast compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Lightcast financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lightcast leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Lightcast subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries4 records
Lightcast funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lightcast M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A6 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lightcast
What does Lightcast do?
Lightcast provides a global labor market intelligence platform built on more than 18 billion data points compiled over 25 years, including job postings, career profiles, and compensation data across 165+ countries. The company delivers its data through a web-based analytics application (Analyst), a portfolio of REST APIs (Skills, Titles, Companies, JPA, Profiles, Core LMI, Occupational Earnings, IPEDS, Compensation), cloud-based Data Shares via Snowflake/Databricks/BigQuery/Azure, and professional consulting services. Proprietary skills and occupation taxonomies along with machine learning classifiers (~90% accuracy) underpin all offerings, serving enterprise, education, and government customers.
Is Lightcast a public or private company?
Lightcast is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Lightcast founded?
Lightcast was founded in 2000. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Lightcast based?
Lightcast is headquartered in Moscow, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lightcast make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription-based Software Services are the primary driver. The others are professional Services, career Coach & Widget Builder and business Contact Data Products.
Who are Lightcast's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Revelio Labs, TalentNeuron (Gartner), LinkUp and Eightfold AI. Broad incumbents are LinkedIn (Microsoft), Indeed (Recruit Holdings) and Workday. Emerging players are Visier and Crunchr. US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is listed as an others.
Does Lightcast have an API?
Yes. Lightcast offers public APIs for accessing labor market data, including Skills API (5 requests/sec), Titles API (5 requests/sec), Companies API (5 requests/sec), JPA API (10 requests/sec), Profiles API (10 requests/sec), Core LMI API (300 requests/5 min), Occupational Earnings API, IPEDS API, and Compensation API. Data is accessible via REST APIs, Data Shares through Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage. Open Terms of Use govern open API and dataset access. Documentation available at https://docs.lightcast.dev/. Developer documentation is at docs.lightcast.dev.
What industry is Lightcast in?
Lightcast's product category is Labor Market Intelligence Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAAAJ, AI/ML Solution Integration & MLOps Enablement. Its NAICS code is 519 and its SIC code is 7371.