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Since joining Polaris Venture Partners over six years ago we have seen multiple business plans for companies that aspire to be the next generation monster.com or hotjobs.  There were promises of innovative technology and algorithms and unique business models.  But it was not until we met Joe Essenfeld founder of JIBE that we finally saw a product vision and business model that made sense. JIBE will be the first on-line service designed to bring the power of social networking to online career search.  JIBE integrates Facebook Connect and LinkedIn to enable employers and candidates to leverage the overlap of their social networks during the recruiting and job seeking process.  This will be a powerful tool for recruiters who will now have a referral based system to help make the hiring decision.   They will be able to see how candidates might be connected with other employees in their company.  For the job seeker, JIBE dynamically reveals who within their social network is currently or has worked for a company that they are interested in.  This will facilitate referrals and interest.

The business model is simple and scalable.  Job seekers use credits to apply for the jobs they are most interested in and qualified for. Employers only pay to unlock the applications they are most interested in learning more about.   Early tests have shown that by asking job seekers to use credits they give more thought to what jobs they apply for.  This limits the “spray and pray” mentality that the traditional job boards encourage.  The employer benefit is that while they may receive fewer applications the quality of those received is higher.  Also the employer only pays for who they want to meet.  No listing fees!

Jon Steinberg and I have been fortunate to get to know Joe Essenfeld and his partner Pete Margulies since they moved into Dogpatch Labs NY in January. These are two experienced entrepreneurs with the vision and commitment that leads one to believe nothing will keep them from being successful. Jibe is open today in private beta. The first 200 people to enter the code “Techcrunch” will receive an invite.

Polaris Venture Partners seed funded JIBE with a great group of investors including: Jason Calicanis, who believed in the team since TC50, Josh and Jared Kushner, Zelkova, and Lerer Media (Huffington Post).

Here is the funding announcement.

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