Is Ashby profitable in 2026?

Ashby has not disclosed profitability, but at its July 2025 Series D it reported a burn multiple under 1x, meaning it spends less than $1 to generate $1 of new ARR, alongside 135% year over year ARR growth, indicating capital efficient scaling rather than confirmed profitability.

Could AI replace Ashby's ATS product?

Ashby is positioning itself against that risk by becoming the data layer AI runs through: it launched an MCP server on June 29, 2026 letting ChatGPT and Claude query Ashby's structured hiring data, betting on data ownership and permission-aware workflows rather than raw screening tasks as its moat.

Who owns Ashby and is it public?

Ashby is privately held and venture backed, founded in 2018 by CEO Benjamin Encz and Abhik Pramanik. Its most recent round was a $50M Series D announced July 22, 2025, co-led by Alkeon Capital Management and Lachy Groom, with no IPO to date.

Who is Ashby's biggest competitor?

Greenhouse is Ashby's most direct rival, a PE-owned incumbent that shipped its own native interview scheduling module in September 2025 to close the gap. Workday and Rippling pose a secondary bundling threat at the low end of the market.

How much money has Ashby raised in total?

Ashby's Series D added $50M on July 22, 2025, following a $30M Series C in June 2024. Third party trackers put cumulative funding between $114.65M (Caplight, April 2026) and $130.58M (CB Insights, December 2025), with figures varying by source.

Does Ashby use AI in its own product, and is it working?

Yes. Ashby says over 50% of customers already used 'Ashby AI' daily as of mid-2025 (vendor claimed), and it launched Ashby Assistant in open beta on May 7, 2026, an AI Interviewer from its Talent Llama acquisition the same month, and an MCP server on June 29, 2026.

Job boards and HR platforms · United States

Ashby

ashbyhq.com ↗

Ashby makes hiring software (ATS) that startups use to track and screen job candidates.

Defensible for now

Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026

Real protection, with named pressure against it.

On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from Aug 2, 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: EU AI Act enforcement begins for high-risk hiring tools

The call

Ashby is growing fast on sticky hiring data while Greenhouse and AI agents both race to make that stickiness matter less.

Ashby makes software that companies use to hire people, handling job applications, interviews, and candidate records in one place. It is not easy to replace because it stores years of hiring history and candidate information that would be painful for companies to move elsewhere, and competitors like Greenhouse are slower to add new features, though they are catching up fast. The big question is whether generic AI tools (like ChatGPT) will let companies skip hiring software altogether by doing resume screening and scheduling on their own, or whether Ashby's ownership of all that candidate data and its position as the middleman for AI tools will keep it relevant.

Why

AI pressure: Generic AI agents (ChatGPT, Claude, agentic HR startups). AI agents could screen resumes and schedule interviews directly, skipping the ATS entirely if hiring data lives outside Ashby. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: Greenhouse (shipped AI scheduling Sept 2025); Workday and Rippling bundling recruiting into HR suites. Greenhouse is closing the AI feature gap fast, and Rippling can give away recruiting free inside a bigger HR bundle. Could a giant copy it? Probably.

What protects it. Ashby owns the candidate data, interview history, and permissions that companies would have to rebuild elsewhere to switch.

What would change this call

Greenhouse ships an AI-native recruiting rebuild beyond scheduling within 12-18 months. Would show incumbents can match Ashby's core product edge quickly.
Ashby's AI Assistant, MCP server, and AI Interviewer exit beta with distinct capabilities by late 2026. Would confirm Ashby's AI features are a durable differentiator, not just hype.
Rippling or Workday report rising recruiting-module attach rates among mid-market tech firms. Would indicate bundling is pulling growth-stage customers away from standalone ATS like Ashby.

Key numbers

135% YoY ARR growth at Series D (2025-07-22)
Customers grew from 1,300 to 2,700+ in a year (2025-07-22)
3,518 companies detected using Ashby (2026-07-13)

Named risks

Screening and scheduling could commoditize via generic AI agents before Ashby's data moat solidifies. Severity: high
Core AI features (Assistant, MCP, AI Interviewer) remain beta-stage as of June 2026, unproven at scale. Severity: medium
EU AI Act enforcement on hiring tools begins Aug 2, 2026, requiring compliance changes. Severity: medium
Greenhouse and other PE-owned or bundled incumbents could ship AI-native rebuilds within 12-18 months. Severity: medium
Valuation and funding totals reported inconsistently across trackers, signaling limited financial transparency. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Greenhouse	contesting	Shipped native scheduling module Sept 2025 to close gap with Ashby, still slower to ship AI features
Lever	gaining on	Lever's product cadence reportedly slowed since acquisition by Employ, as of mid-2026 comparisons
Workday	contesting	Enterprise HRIS incumbent bundling Recruiting module, cited as low-end bundle threat in 2026
Rippling	contesting	Bundles recruiting into HRIS/payroll suite, competing at the low end as of 2026
Gem	contesting	Sourcing/CRM-focused tool often paired with, not replacing, an ATS like Ashby

Questions people ask

Is Ashby profitable in 2026?: Ashby has not disclosed profitability, but at its July 2025 Series D it reported a burn multiple under 1x, meaning it spends less than $1 to generate $1 of new ARR, alongside 135% year over year ARR growth, indicating capital efficient scaling rather than confirmed profitability.
Could AI replace Ashby's ATS product?: Ashby is positioning itself against that risk by becoming the data layer AI runs through: it launched an MCP server on June 29, 2026 letting ChatGPT and Claude query Ashby's structured hiring data, betting on data ownership and permission-aware workflows rather than raw screening tasks as its moat.
Who owns Ashby and is it public?: Ashby is privately held and venture backed, founded in 2018 by CEO Benjamin Encz and Abhik Pramanik. Its most recent round was a $50M Series D announced July 22, 2025, co-led by Alkeon Capital Management and Lachy Groom, with no IPO to date.
Who is Ashby's biggest competitor?: Greenhouse is Ashby's most direct rival, a PE-owned incumbent that shipped its own native interview scheduling module in September 2025 to close the gap. Workday and Rippling pose a secondary bundling threat at the low end of the market.
How much money has Ashby raised in total?: Ashby's Series D added $50M on July 22, 2025, following a $30M Series C in June 2024. Third party trackers put cumulative funding between $114.65M (Caplight, April 2026) and $130.58M (CB Insights, December 2025), with figures varying by source.
Does Ashby use AI in its own product, and is it working?: Yes. Ashby says over 50% of customers already used 'Ashby AI' daily as of mid-2025 (vendor claimed), and it launched Ashby Assistant in open beta on May 7, 2026, an AI Interviewer from its Talent Llama acquisition the same month, and an MCP server on June 29, 2026.

Timeline

2026-06-29Ashby MCP server launched, letting ChatGPT and Claude query Ashby recruiting data
2026-05-07Ashby Assistant AI agent enters open beta; AI Interviewer from Talent Llama announced
2026-05-06Ashby One 2026 keynote: company claims 70% of Forbes top AI startups use Ashby
2025-12Ashby's acquisition of AI interview startup Talent Llama reported closed
2025-09Greenhouse ships native interview scheduling module, narrowing gap with Ashby
2025-07-22Ashby announces $50M Series D led by Alkeon Capital and Lachy Groom
2024-06-05Ashby closes $30M Series C after reported 6x revenue growth
2022Ashby publicly launches its ATS and recruiting platform after stealth period

Revision history

22 July 2026

First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

freee K.K.UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)The Predictive Index