by Ishpreet Khanuja
We’re thrilled to celebrate this milestone with Founder and CEO, Amit Chauhan of JobAdX, which was recently acquired by the global recruitment marketing agency, Shaker Recruitment Marketing.
For many founders, an acquisition represents a pivotal moment in their entrepreneurial path. It marks a recognition of the hard work, determination, and vision they’ve exhibited so far, and becomes a launchpad for even greater accomplishments that can shape their legacy in powerful ways going forward.
With a 74-year legacy in leading the world of recruitment marketing with transparency and strategic insight, Shaker Recruitment Marketing is positioned to drive massive growth in recruitment marketing equipped with JobAdX’s cutting-edge capabilities to optimize recruitment spending for employers. We spoke with Chauhan recently about the impressive growth the venture has seen over the years, the learnings gathered along the way, and the exciting avenues ahead.
How it All Started
In 2013, Chauhan was waiting in a line of candidates for a Google interview in Bangalore, India. Inspired to help build a more efficient recruiting process, he created Recroup, which became part of Costarter startup accelerator program organized by Northern Ontario Innovation Program and took the team to Thunder Bay, ON. Recroup was a talent retargeting platform. In 2017, his team identified a gap in the job advertising landscape and launched JobAdX, a platform that transformed job ad placements for companies by analyzing and targeting job seekers based on techniques more commonly seen in consumer advertising.
The growth of JobAdX led Chauhan to settle in Mississauga in 2017, where he began seeking new opportunities to engage with more local businesses, connecting with Altitude Accelerator in the process. He shared, “Our goal was to network and connect with key people in the community. Through the program, we participated in pitch competitions and met advisors like Paul Barter, Geoff Simonett and Graham McBride. It was really about building relationships and gaining mentorship.”
Recognizing Subtle Shifts
By 2022, JobAdX achieved rapid growth, including $3 million in revenue and almost 100% year-over-year growth with a small team of four people. This success was driven by the increasing demand for programmatic job advertising solutions as companies looked for more efficient ways to manage and optimize job advertising spending across multiple platforms. Catering mostly to clients in the U.S. at the time, JobAdX focused on improving job advertising efficiency for companies with high-volume hiring needs.
However, in 2023, the market started to shift. As the talent market softened and many companies began to reduce hiring, JobAdX sensed that change was already afoot: “We identified this trend between 2020 and 2022, and we knew the market was shifting from high growth to more of a flat growth era,” recalled Chauhan. “At that point, we noticed many companies in our space slowed hiring, and some even went through layoffs. We had been building JobAdX for a long time and developed a solid technology with numerous use cases.” This search for a strategic partner who could help them navigate the changing landscape and further expand their capabilities is what originally led the JobAdX team to Shaker Recruitment Marketing.
Collaborating with Shaker Recruitment Marketing
“We connected with Shaker Recruitment Marketing,” shared Chauhan. “Initially, we started a partnership because Shaker Recruitment Marketing was looking for a new vendor, and we were looking for new opportunities. Shaker Recruitment Marketing serves some of the largest employers in the U.S. with managed job distribution services for over 74 years. As we began working with them, they needed a platform that would fit their clients’ needs so we customized our technology to meet their requirements. The entire process took almost a year and during that time, our team really connected with theirs. They saw the discipline and hard work we had put into creating this.”
This collaboration culminated in JobAdX eventually being acquired by Shaker Recruitment Marketing in early 2025. JobAdX’s team was integrated into Shaker Recruitment Marketing’s staff of 250, and Chauhan was appointed the VP of Programmatic Technology. The move enabled JobAdX to continue enhancing its technology while benefiting from Shaker Recruitment Marketing’s established client base and industry expertise.
What’s Next for JobAdX?
With the integration into Shaker Recruitment Marketing, JobAdX’s journey to greatness is only getting started. Their vision for the future involves further enhancing and scaling the programmatic job advertising technology to meet the growing needs of the agency’s clients. As part of their new programmatic technology department, the JobAdX team continues to refine and customize the platform to optimize job distribution spending.
Chauhan sees potential in expanding the technology’s capabilities, improving transparency, and increasing efficiency for Shaker Recruitment Marketing’s clients. He reflected, “The advantage of having this technology in-house is that we now have more control over how we want to manage it. It’s like the difference between using third-party services like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to distribute your ads versus creating something in-house where you have much more control. With Shaker Recruitment Marketing now using JobAdX technology internally, and with the team constantly enhancing it, we have far more flexibility, power, and transparency to deliver to our clients.”
With the acquisition, Chauhan also credited the shared values between the two companies, stating, “One of the reasons we decided to join Shaker Recruitment Marketing was because they have such a long and rich history. When I spoke with the CEO, Joe Shaker Jr., he said, ‘First, make a friend, then make a deal.’ That’s exactly what happened. When we started working with them, it felt personal. We connected on a deeper level and understood what they stood for. We now see a long-term vision with the company, where programmatic is just one solution. As a technology team, we believe there are many areas where we can help. We used to call them Shaker Recruitment Marketing clients, but now they’re our clients too. We aim to continue building techologies that support our clients and increase efficiency.”
The Role of Mentorship
While his visionary nature has led JobAdX to great heights, Chauhan admitted that he, like most entrepreneurs, often found himself focusing on the technology with blinders on. On such occasions, he credits surrounding himself with valuable mentorship with helping him identify key opportunities. He shared, “All advisors–Paul Barter, Geoff Simonett and Graham McBride from Altitude Accelerator– have been in tech investing for a long time. They have gone through their own journeys of raising capital, selling businesses, and making investments. The time they spent with us was incredibly beneficial. They introduced us to many people who could add value, and we had numerous brainstorming sessions to refine our pitch, business model, and financial performance. As founders, we’re often juggling so many things and may not always focus on what’s outside the tech or business, but those are critical when raising capital. Geoff and Graham really helped us with that. They were always there when I needed someone, and I could reach out to them for introductions or advice. They were always there for us.”
Inspired by the story of JobAdX? Altitude Accelerator recognizes the expertise and support essential for founders to grow and scale their businesses at every stage. Check out our Investor Readiness and Market Readiness programs and apply today!
