This Handshake company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. Handshake works in artificial intelligence, with a focus on career network and AI training data. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. Its latest valuation on record is US$3.5 billion (January 2022). Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.
Revenue
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total funding | About US$435 million (as reported) | 2022 | Wikipedia |
Funding history
| Date | Round | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2022 | Series F | US$200M | US$3.5B | Coatue and Valiant Peregrine Fund (co-leads); Base10's Advancement Initiative and others | Bloomberg |
Handshake timeline
Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.
- 2014 — Handshake is founded in San Francisco by Garrett Lord (CEO), Ben Christensen and Scott Ringwelski.
- Jan 2022 — Series F: US$200M, valuing the company at US$3.5B. Investors: Coatue and Valiant Peregrine Fund (co-leads); Base10's Advancement Initiative and others.
- 2022 — Total funding: About US$435 million (as reported).
Investors
Overview
Handshake is a career network that connects college students and recent graduates with employers. Students build profiles, discover jobs and internships, attend virtual and in-person events and message recruiters, while employers use it to reach students at specific universities or with particular skills. Most US universities use Handshake for their career services. In 2025, the company launched Handshake AI, a business that recruits students, graduates and PhD holders from its network to create expert data and evaluations for AI labs. According to research firm Sacra, Handshake AI quickly became the company's main growth driver. Handshake was last valued at US$3.5 billion in a January 2022 Series F.
Garrett Lord, the CEO, Ben Christensen and Scott Ringwelski founded Handshake in 2014 while studying at Michigan Technological University. They saw that students at schools outside the elite few had limited access to top employers, and built a platform to connect students everywhere with opportunities.
Products
- Student network: profiles, job and internship search, events and peer communities for students and recent graduates.
- Employer recruiting: tools for employers to source, message and hire early-career talent.
- University career services: software for career centres to manage employer relationships, events and student outcomes.
- Handshake AI: a service supplying AI labs with expert data, problem sets and evaluations from vetted students, graduates and PhD experts.
Funding
Handshake raised funding from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins. A 2021 round valued it at about US$1.5 billion. In January 2022 it raised a US$200 million Series F co-led by Coatue and Valiant Peregrine Fund, with participation from Base10's Advancement Initiative, at a US$3.5 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg; research firm Sacra puts the figure at about US$3.3 billion. We haven't found a newer priced round, so the 2022 figure should be treated as historical.
Business model
Handshake traditionally earned revenue from employers paying for premium recruiting tools, with the network free for students and universities. Handshake AI added a new revenue stream: AI labs pay for expert-created data and evaluations, and Handshake pays the experts. Sacra estimated Handshake AI's annualised gross revenue at about US$1.1 billion in April 2026, though net revenue after paying experts is much lower; these figures are estimates rather than company disclosures, so we show revenue as not disclosed.
Competition
In recruiting, Handshake competes with LinkedIn, Indeed, university job boards and campus recruiting firms. In AI data, it competes with Mercor, Turing, Scale AI, Surge AI and others. Its advantage in AI data is access to a large, credentialed network of students and graduates across many subjects.
Handshake at a glance
Handshake is a San Francisco career network founded in 2014 by Garrett Lord, Ben Christensen and Scott Ringwelski at Michigan Tech. It connects students with employers and, through Handshake AI, supplies expert data to AI labs. It was valued at US$3.5 billion in a January 2022 Series F co-led by Coatue and Valiant Peregrine Fund.
Timeline
- 2014: founded at Michigan Technological University.
- 2016–2020: adopted by most US universities' career centres.
- 2021: valued at about US$1.5 billion.
- January 2022: raises US$200 million at US$3.5 billion.
- 2025: launches Handshake AI.
- Early 2026: acquires data-quality startup Cleanlab, according to reports.
Why a career network moved into AI data
AI labs increasingly need experts to create training data in subjects such as mathematics, physics, biology, law and coding. Recruiting and vetting such experts is the hardest part of the business. Handshake already had relationships with millions of students and graduates, including PhD candidates, with verified academic credentials. Offering them well-paid flexible work creating AI data was a natural extension, and it allowed Handshake to tap one of the fastest-growing markets in technology. The shift also diversified the company away from campus recruiting, which fluctuates with the hiring market.
Who uses Handshake
Handshake's users include students and recent graduates, universities' career centres, employers hiring early-career talent, and AI labs buying expert data.
Valuation context
Handshake's last disclosed valuation predates Handshake AI. If reported growth estimates are accurate, its value may have changed significantly, but we only publish disclosed or reliably reported figures. Our guide to AI training data companies compares it with peers.
Risks
- Customer concentration: AI data revenue may depend on a few labs.
- Hiring cycles: campus recruiting revenue falls when employers hire less.
- Brand balance: serving students and AI labs requires trust from both.
- Stale valuation: the last disclosed mark is from 2022.
Questions for observers
- How much revenue does Handshake AI generate on a net basis?
- Will the company raise new funding at a disclosed valuation?
- How does it ensure quality and fair pay for experts?
How Handshake AI recruits experts
AI labs want experts who can write difficult problems, solve them step by step and judge whether model answers are correct, in fields ranging from organic chemistry to constitutional law. Finding such people through general freelance platforms is slow, and verifying their qualifications is difficult. Handshake already knows which universities its users attend, what they study and, for many, their degree level. It can invite qualified students and graduates to apply, test them on subject knowledge and match them to projects. Reported pay for specialised work in fields such as mathematics, physics and computer science has been around US$100 or more per hour, according to research firm Sacra. For students and recent graduates, especially PhD candidates, the work offers flexible income using their expertise, while for labs it offers access to a large, credentialed talent pool.
The model also raises questions about quality control, fair treatment of contractors and how to balance the needs of AI labs with Handshake's original mission of helping students build careers. How Handshake manages those issues will affect both its reputation and its long-term growth.
Latest developments (October 2026)
Handshake has been transformed by its AI training data business, which pays experts and students to help AI labs train models. Third-party estimates from Sacra put its annualised gross revenue at about US$1.1 billion in April 2026, more than four times a year earlier, with net revenue of about US$450 million after payments to contributors. These figures are estimates. Its last priced round was in 2022 at about US$3.5 billion. See our AI training data guide.
What to watch
Watch Handshake AI's growth, any new funding round, and trends in campus hiring.
Takeaways
Students can find jobs and paid AI work through one network. Founders can see how an existing network can unlock a new market. Investors should treat its US$3.5 billion valuation as a 2022 mark.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.
Frequently asked questions
What does Handshake do?
Handshake is a artificial intelligence / career network and ai training data company headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It was founded in 2014.
What is Handshake's valuation?
Handshake was valued at US$3.5 billion as of January 2022, according to Bloomberg. Private company valuations are set at funding rounds or share sales and can change significantly between them.
How much revenue does Handshake make?
Handshake is a private company and has not publicly disclosed its revenue. Figures on third-party sites are usually modelled estimates rather than numbers reported by the company.
What was Handshake's latest funding round?
The most recent financing we have verified is a series f in Jan 2022: US$200M, at a valuation of US$3.5B. Source: Bloomberg.
Who are Handshake's investors?
Investors named in public announcements include Coatue, Valiant Peregrine Fund, Base10 Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins.
Who founded Handshake?
Handshake was founded in 2014 by Garrett Lord (CEO), Ben Christensen and Scott Ringwelski.
Is Handshake a public company?
No. Handshake is a private company (private, venture backed), so its shares are not traded on a stock exchange and it isn't required to publish its financial results.
Where is Handshake headquartered?
Handshake is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States.