Firstbird
Firstbird is a Vienna-based B2B SaaS company that operates a digital employee referral platform, helping employers source candidates through their workforce networks. Founded in 2013, the 51–100-employee firm targets HR and talent acquisition teams.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersVienna, Austria
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Firstbird does
Firstbird is a Vienna-based B2B SaaS company founded in 2013 that operates a digital employee referral platform, connecting employers with suitable candidates by leveraging the networks of their existing workforce. The platform addresses the well-documented productivity of employee-sourced hires by automating the referral lifecycle — submission, tracking, rewards, and conversion — for HR and talent acquisition teams. The company is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and operates with 51–100 employees under founder-CEO Arnim Wahls.
The core product is an employee referral program that competes directly with the "Employee Referrals" module of larger talent acquisition cloud providers such as Radancy, which bundles referral functionality alongside programmatic AdTech, career sites, CRM, screening, and conversational AI hiring agents. Firstbird's go-to-market positioning, judging by the leadership team's "Sales (as a Service)" function led by Stephanie Biebel, appears to combine self-serve SaaS with a managed-services layer for buyers lacking internal program management capacity. The company has participated in the Microsoft Accelerator Berlin program (2014) and SAP.iO (2020), suggesting strategic interest in enterprise ecosystem distribution.
Firstbird's business model is B2B SaaS subscription revenue from HR departments and talent acquisition teams, supplemented by what appears to be an as-a-service delivery layer. The company has raised approximately $6.76 million in disclosed funding across multiple rounds from 2014 to 2020, with investors including SAP.iO, Jobcloud SA, Verve Ventures, 3wVentures, European Super Angels Club, and Venionaire Capital. The funding cadence ended in March 2020, leaving the current capital position undisclosed in the input. Customer logos, pricing, ARR, and revenue split are not provided, creating meaningful data gaps for valuation and concentration analysis.
Firstbird firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Firstbird
- Website
- https://firstbird.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Firstbird is a Vienna-based B2B SaaS company that operates a digital employee referral platform, helping employers source candidates through their workforce networks. Founded in 2013, the 51–100-employee firm targets HR and talent acquisition teams.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Firstbird industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Employee Referral Software
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Vendor Management System (VMS) & MSP-Led Contractor Programs (BPACAGAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cloud, DevOps & Infrastructure Staffing (BPACADAD)
Keywords
Where Firstbird is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vienna
- HQ country
- Austria
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Firstbird business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Platform Subscription: Radancy operates as a talent acquisition cloud platform providing enterprise software solutions, likely through annual subscription contracts for platform access and features
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise platform with full suite of talent acquisition capabilities |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Firstbird product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Firstbird operates a digital employee referral program platform that connects people with jobs and companies worldwide with suitable candidates. The platform enables organizations to leverage their workforce for candidate sourcing through structured digital referral workflows, helping HR and recruitment teams identify quality hires via employee networks.
Product overview
Radancy operates as a unified Talent Acquisition Cloud platform powered by Agentic AI, offering a modular architecture that integrates multiple products for end-to-end hiring. The core Radancy Talent Acquisition Cloud serves as the central platform, complemented by specialized modules including EVP and Brand Development, Programmatic AdTech, Career Sites, Employee Referrals, Hiring Events, Candidate Relationship Management (CRM), Screening & Scheduling, Insights and Analytics, and Radancy Labs for innovation. The platform was expanded in 2025 through the acquisition of myInterview, which added conversational AI interview capabilities. These modules work together to deliver a comprehensive solution spanning employer branding, job distribution, candidate engagement, hiring automation, and analytics across 675+ platform customers including Capital One, Sanofi, Sony Pictures, Santander, UPS, Dell Technologies, Wegmans, and Coca-Cola.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Firstbird Employee Referral Platform
- Sales as a Service / Growth Advisory
Quantifiable outcome
- Maximize ROI on talent acquisition investments
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Firstbird
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Firstbird technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature5 records
Firstbird partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- myInterviewcoreRadancy expanded its AI platform through the strategic acquisition of myInterview, a conversational AI technology provider. This acquisition brings conversational AI agents to help identify, screen, schedule, assess, and onboard top talent, enhancing Radancy's existing talent acquisition cloud platform with advanced screening capabilities.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Firstbird competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Radancy: Radancy operates an end-to-end talent acquisition cloud with a dedicated Employee Referrals module, serving 675+ enterprise customers including Capital One, Sanofi, and UPS. It is a relevant peer because it competes directly for the same enterprise referral-program budget as Firstbird, but as part of a much broader TA suite.
- iCIMS: iCIMS is a large enterprise talent acquisition platform that includes an employee referral module as part of its hiring suite. It is comparable to Firstbird because enterprise buyers frequently evaluate iCIMS' referral functionality head-to-head against point solutions like Firstbird.
- Greenhouse: Greenhouse is a widely adopted applicant tracking system that bundles employee referral capabilities as part of its hiring platform. It competes with Firstbird by offering referrals as an integrated feature rather than a standalone product.
- SmartRecruiters: SmartRecruiters provides an enterprise talent acquisition suite with a built-in employee referral module. It is a relevant peer because it competes for the same HR-tech budget that Firstbird targets, particularly with mid-market and large employers.
- Eightfold AI: Eightfold AI offers a talent intelligence platform that includes referral matching as part of its broader AI-driven hiring suite. It competes with Firstbird in the AI-augmented referral space but addresses a much broader talent management use case.
- Workday Recruiting: Workday Recruiting is part of the Workday HCM suite and includes an employee referral feature set. It is a peer in that enterprise HCM buyers frequently evaluate Workday's native referral capability versus a best-of-breed alternative like Firstbird.
- LinkedIn Talent Solutions: LinkedIn's Recruiter and Referrals products offer referral functionality inside the world's largest professional network. It competes with Firstbird at the high end of the enterprise market where LinkedIn's network effects are strongest.
Direct peers
- RolePoint: RolePoint is a dedicated employee referral platform purpose-built for managing and automating referral programs at enterprise scale. It is the closest direct competitor to Firstbird in terms of product scope (referrals only) and enterprise target customer.
- Teamable: Teamable is an employee referral and internal-mobility platform that uses relationship data and AI to power referral matching. It competes with Firstbird in the same niche, often at similar mid-market and enterprise customers.
Emerging players
- Comeet: Comeet is a collaborative hiring platform that includes employee referral features targeted at small and mid-sized employers. It is a relevant emerging peer for Firstbird in the lower end of the market where Firstbird has historically been strong in Europe.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Firstbird social profiles
Digital presenceFirstbird financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Firstbird leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Firstbird subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Firstbird funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Firstbird M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Firstbird
What does Firstbird do?
Firstbird operates a digital employee referral program platform that connects people with jobs and companies worldwide with suitable candidates. The platform enables organizations to leverage their workforce for candidate sourcing through structured digital referral workflows, helping HR and recruitment teams identify quality hires via employee networks.
When was Firstbird founded?
Firstbird was founded in 2013. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Firstbird based?
Firstbird is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, in the Europe region.
How does Firstbird make money?
One revenue line is on record: platform Subscription.
Who are Firstbird's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Radancy, iCIMS, Greenhouse, SmartRecruiters, Eightfold AI, Workday Recruiting and LinkedIn Talent Solutions. Direct peers are RolePoint and Teamable. Comeet is listed as an emerging player.
Does Firstbird have an API?
No public API is recorded for Firstbird.
What industry is Firstbird in?
Firstbird's product category is Employee Referral Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAGAF, Vendor Management System (VMS) & MSP-Led Contractor Programs, with a secondary code of BPACADAD, Cloud, DevOps & Infrastructure Staffing. Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.