StepStone

What StepStone does

StepStone operates a job board and recruitment platform with its primary Austrian operations headquartered in Vienna and the legal entity, The Stepstone Group GmbH, domiciled in Germany. Founded in 1996, the company connects employers with job seekers through an online platform serving over 950,000 registered users, 8,862+ active job listings, and a DirectSearch database of 150,000+ candidate profiles. Revenue is generated primarily through employer-paid job posting subscriptions, while job seekers access the platform free of charge. Distribution extends well beyond Austria via 75+ regional and specialized partner job websites and through StepStone's founding membership in The Network, which enables international recruitment across 150 countries.

The platform's core technology is an intelligent matching engine that pairs candidates with suitable positions and powers weekly personalized job alert emails to over 530,000+ users. The product suite extends beyond basic posting to include employer-facing tools (Company Hub for employer branding, DirectSearch database access, StepStone Connect) and job-seeker utilities such as a Gehaltsplaner (Salary Planner) built on 45,000+ Austrian salary data points and a free Lebenslauf-Generator (CV Generator), with iOS and Android mobile applications completing the surface. The go-to-market is hybrid: self-serve for SMBs and direct field sales for enterprise accounts such as Takeda Manufacturing Austria AG, Bildungs:Raum GmbH, Jugend am Werk, and Evangelisches Krankenhaus Wien.

Beyond the core job board, StepStone is active as an investment firm, leading three disclosed venture rounds in late 2025 and early 2026 (Scribe $75M Series C at a $1.3B valuation in November 2025, Night Media $70M in February 2026, and Sift $42M Series B in March 2026). The broader group operates multiple wholly-owned job board brands across Europe (Totaljobs in the UK, plus France, Belgium, Netherlands), Africa (pnet.co.za, careerjunction.co.za, MyJob.mu), the Caribbean and other markets. StepStone is privately held; former German Finance Minister Christian Lindner was appointed to the group's board as an independent member in October 2025.

Name

StepStone

Legal name

The Stepstone Group GmbH

Website

https://stepstone.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

StepStone is a privately held job board and recruitment platform founded in 1996, connecting employers with job seekers across Austria and internationally through matching technology, a 75+ partner network, and 150-country reach via The Network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Job Board

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Vertical/Specialty Search (e.g., jobs, real estate, travel, products) (BPAMAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Career Services & Job Placement Platforms (Jobs, Recruiting, Employer Networks) (EDAFAMAM)

Keywords

• Online job board
• Recruitment platform
• Job posting services
• Candidate matching
• Talent acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Job Advertising Services: Revenue generated from employers paying to post job listings on the platform. StepStone offers various job posting packages with different visibility levels and features.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

StepStone operates an online job board platform that connects employers with job seekers across Austria and internationally. The platform enables employers to post job listings, access a candidate database, leverage intelligent matching technology, and conduct international recruitment through The Network partnership covering 150 countries. Job seekers access job search, salary comparison, CV building, and weekly job alert services.

Product overview

StepStone operates as a job board platform with a modular architecture consisting of its core job posting and search platform, complemented by employer-facing tools (Company Hub, DirectSearch Database, Connect) and job seeker services (Salary Planner, CV Generator, Job App). The platform leverages intelligent matching algorithms to connect candidates with positions, serving over 950,000 registered users and collaborating with 75+ regional and specialized job websites. International reach is enabled through The Network partnership covering 150 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Stepstone Global Hiring: International recruitment service enabling employers to post jobs and hire talent across 150+ countries.

Products and services

• StepStone Job Board Platform The primary job search and posting platform enabling employers to publish vacancies and job seekers to find employment opportunities across Austria and internationally.
• StepStone Global Hiring International job posting service offered as a founding member of The Network, enabling employers to post jobs and reach candidates in 150 countries worldwide.
• StepStone Connect Recruitment connectivity platform for employer engagement and candidate management, enabling streamlined hiring workflows.
• StepStone Job App
• DirectSearch Database

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStepStone is a founding member of The Network, a global partnership enabling international job postings across 150 countries. This enables StepStone Global Hiring services for employers seeking international talent.
• Christian LindnercoreOthersChristian Lindner, former German Finance Minister, joined StepStone Group's board as an independent member in October 2025, bringing political and economic expertise.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Indeed: Global job search engine and recruitment platform that aggregates listings from across the web. Directly competes with StepStone in Austria and DACH for employer job-posting spend, with broader scale and stronger search-arbitrage economics.
• LinkedIn (Talent Solutions): Microsoft-owned professional network with a dominant Talent Solutions recruitment business. Competes with StepStone for enterprise hiring budgets, especially for professional and white-collar roles, leveraging unmatched professional-graph data.
• Glassdoor: Recruitment platform combining job listings with company reviews and salary data — directly competing with StepStone's Salary Planner and Company Hub modules. Owned by Indeed/Recruit.

Direct peers

• Monster: Global online recruitment platform offering job postings, resume database access, and recruitment advertising. Closely comparable business model to StepStone with employer subscription postings and candidate matching.
• Totaljobs: UK job board now under StepStone ownership. Direct same-platform peer demonstrating StepStone's own multi-market operating playbook; comparable business model in terms of subscription job postings and matching technology.
• CareerBuilder: Global job board and talent acquisition platform. Shares the same subscription-based employer revenue model and candidate-database monetization approach as StepStone.

Regional players

• Jobs.at (JOBS AT): Austrian job board operated by the Styria Media Group. Competes directly with StepStone.at for Austrian employer job postings and candidate traffic, particularly in regional markets.
• Kununu: DACH-focused employer review and salary transparency platform owned by Xing/New Work. Overlaps with StepStone's Salary Planner and Company Hub employer branding tools in the Austrian market.
• Xing: Leading DACH-focused professional network and job platform, owned by New Work SE. StepStone's most direct regional competitor in German-speaking markets, with overlapping employer customers and candidate pools.
• Karriere.at: Austrian-focused job board platform serving the same Austrian employer and job-seeker market as StepStone. Direct head-to-head competitor for local SMB and enterprise hiring budgets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/traumjob
• Facebookfacebook.com/StepStone.at
• Instagraminstagram.com/stepstone_at
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stepstone-sterreich-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about StepStone