Karat

Karat runs human-led technical interviews for companies hiring engineers.

Karat has the customers and data to survive, but an AI avatar now does its core job and the company hasn't raised money in five years.

Karat hires people to conduct first-round job interviews for large companies, and charges fees for this service. This work is now being replaced by AI avatars that can do the same interviews automatically, which competitors like HackerEarth started shipping in early 2026. The company tried to pivot to a new product called NextGen that tests AI skills instead, but it is only six months old and has no proof it will make real money. The key question is whether enough customers will pay for NextGen before their old interview business shrinks too much to survive on.

• 2024 revenue ~$74M (2025-11-27)
• Secondary market implies ~82% valuation cut from $1.1B (2026-06-30)
• 94 employees laid off across two 2023 rounds (2023-06-28)

• Core human-interview product directly threatened by shipped AI-avatar rivals like HackerEarth OnScreen. Severity: high
• No priced funding round since 2021 amid active AI-driven commoditization of core product. Severity: high
• Two 2023 layoff rounds (47 employees each) signal past workforce instability. Severity: medium
• NextGen AI pivot is unproven, roughly 6 months old with no independently confirmed paying enterprise customers. Severity: medium
• Conflicting headcount and valuation data across trackers point to unresolved volatility. Severity: low

Is Karat profitable in 2026?

Karat has not disclosed profitability figures. GeekWire reported total funding of roughly $151.6M as of December 2025, and Karat has not closed a new priced round since its October 2021 $110M Series C at a $1.1B valuation, suggesting continued reliance on prior capital rather than confirmed profitability.

Could AI replace Karat's technical interviewers?

That is the direct threat facing Karat: rival HackerEarth shipped an AI-avatar interviewer called OnScreen on April 14, 2026, automating the same live technical first-round interviews Karat's human 'Interview Engineers' conduct, per HackerEarth's own product blog.

Has Karat had layoffs?

Yes. Karat laid off 47 employees in January 2023 and another 47 in June 2023, according to GeekWire, cutting into a workforce that had grown to roughly 423 people by January 2023 from around 200 at its 2021 Series C.

Who owns Karat?

Karat is privately held and venture-backed, founded in 2014 by CEO Mohit Bhende and President Jeffrey Spector. Its last priced funding round was a $110M Series C led by Tiger Global in October 2021 at a $1.1B valuation, per Businesswire.

Who is Karat's biggest competitor?

HackerEarth is the most direct threat after shipping 'OnScreen,' an AI-avatar interviewer, on April 14, 2026, aimed at Karat's core live human-interview product. HackerRank and CodeSignal are also adding AI-fluency assessment features per comparison coverage dated 2026-04-30.

What is Karat NextGen?

Karat NextGen is an AI-native talent-evaluation product Karat launched around January 2026, placing candidates in realistic multi-file codebases with AI coding assistants and using human interviewers to assess AI literacy and architecture skills, per Karat's own description dated 2026-01-14.

• 2026-04-14HackerEarth ships OnScreen, AI-avatar interviewer directly targeting Karat's core product
• 2026-01-14Karat launches NextGen, an AI-native talent evaluation product
• 2025-08-01Mastercard's Ed McLaughlin and EA's Mala Singh join Karat's board
• 2025-01-16Karat acquires Byteboard, its third acquisition
• 2023-06-28Karat lays off 47 employees, second 2023 round
• 2023-03-01Karat acquires Triplebyte's adaptive assessment technology
• 2023-01-20Karat lays off 47 employees, first 2023 round, from ~423 staff
• 2021-10-13Karat raises $110M Series C led by Tiger Global at $1.1B valuation

• Karat Pioneers the Interviewing Cloud to Transform Technical Hiring Secures $110M in Series C Funding (2021-10-13)
• Company Profile (2026-06-30)
• $73.6M ARR, $1.1B Valuation (2025-11-27)
• Karat lays off 47 employees for the second time this year (2023-06-28)
• Karat cuts 47 employees (2023-01-20)
• 10 Best Technical Skills Assessment Tools (2026) (2025-12-18)
• Karat raises $110M on a $1.1B valuation (2021-10-13)
• Karat acquires leading adaptive assessment technology from Triplebyte (2023-03-01)
• Karat makes third acquisition, swooping up Byteboard (2025-01-16)
• The Growing Skills Gap in the AI Era (2026-01-14)
• Karat Acquires Byteboard to Revolutionize Talent Evaluation (2025-01-16)
• Karat Expands Leadership team (2025-08-01)