Samwise High Tech Recruiting Newsletter
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Fika Jobs Raises $4M to Build Video-First Hiring Platform Where AI Agents Interview Candidates
Stockholm-based startup Fika Jobs raised $4 million in a pre-seed round on June 23 to build a video-first hiring platform where AI agents conduct initial candidate interviews. Founded by brothers Jakob and Alexander Dubois, the platform asks candidates to complete a roughly 10-minute AI interview powered by Google Gemini models. Fika auto-generates short video clips from each response and organizes them into a browsable candidate profile — allowing employers to discover talent without reviewing resumes. The platform charges employers 10% of a new hire’s first-year salary upon placement, below the 20–30% fees typically charged by traditional recruiters. The round was led by Luminar Ventures.
Sources: TechCrunch
Meta Appoints CRED Founder Kunal Shah as New WhatsApp Head in $900M India Investment
Meta appointed CRED founder Kunal Shah as the new head of WhatsApp on June 22, succeeding Will Cathcart, who is stepping down after nearly seven years leading the messaging app. The announcement came alongside a Meta-led $900 million financing round for CRED, the Indian fintech platform Shah founded in 2018, giving Meta a roughly 20% stake in the company at a $4.5 billion post-money valuation. Shah will step down as CRED’s chief executive while retaining his personal shareholding. WhatsApp’s largest market is India, where the app has more than 500 million users — roughly one in six of the platform’s three billion global users.
Sources: TechCrunch / Bloomberg
AI Cited as Top Driver as Tech Layoffs Reach Highest Single Month in Years This May
TechCrunch published an updated tracker on June 22 documenting the major tech companies that have cited artificial intelligence as a reason for 2026 workforce reductions. The list now spans more than a dozen firms — including Amazon, Oracle, Meta, Microsoft, Cisco, Cloudflare, Intuit, Snap, Coinbase, and Block — with the Oracle disclosure on June 22 adding new scale to a pattern that has defined the year. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, tech layoffs in May hit their highest single month in years, with AI cited as the leading reason. TechCrunch noted that many companies on the list reported record revenues in the same quarters they announced cuts.
Sources: TechCrunch
Coinbase and Cloudflare Reveal How AI Is Driving ‘One-Person Team’ Workforce Restructures
A June 22 TechCrunch tracker of AI-attributed tech layoffs shows how companies are redesigning team structures, not simply cutting headcount. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, announcing a May restructuring affecting roughly 700 employees — 14% of staff — said engineers now use AI to ship in days what once took a whole team weeks, and described plans to experiment with “one-person teams” combining engineering, design, and product responsibilities. Cloudflare, which cut 1,100 employees (20%), posted a record quarterly revenue of $639.8 million in the same period — underscoring the tracker’s central finding that many companies on the list reported record revenues while simultaneously reducing their workforces.
Sources: TechCrunch
Curated by JD · samwise.agency