NOLA Expat and Fomer KODA CEO Jeff Berger Hired as Doostang CEO

Jeff Berger, the past founder and CEO of Koda and former Tulane student, announced the acquisition of Doostang and his appointment as CEO.

After graduating from Tulane in 2008,  Berger founded Koda, a social networking site for college students to get jobs.  The idea was that Koda was more professional than Facebook but more personal than LinkedIn, letting both sides of the hiring equation get to know each other.  Berger opened offices in San Fransisco and New Orleans and  raised $3 Million in angel funding in 2009.  The New Orleans office was initially housed at the Ice House.   Things started to fall apart at the end of 2010 when Koda failed to get a critical mass of users and Berger left the company.

Yesterday, Berger announced that Universum Development, the parent company of global employer branding and marketing firm Universum, had acquired Doostang, the fee-based career site for young professionals, and that Berger would become its CEO.

Founded in 2005, Doostang is one of the largest career networking platforms for young business professionals in the world, with over 900,000 members. Members join Doostang to get exclusive access to over 15,000 hand-picked positions with thousands of prestigious employers across finance and investment, consulting, media, and technology industries specifically targeting high-achieving students and graduates of leading academic institutions.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to lead Doostang as it continues to grow as a leading professional destination online,” said Berger. “Doostang will provide an innovative social media solution to Universum’s 1000+ clients across the globe.”

“We have been monitoring Doostang closely for a long time and now look forward to be able to contribute to their continued growth,” said Lars-Henrik Friis Molin, Founder and Chairman at Universum Development.  “Universum’s well established contacts and know-how within the space will be of great use to Doostang,” said Petter Nylander, CEO of Universum Group.

Unlike LinkedIn, Doostang does not charge employers to post jobs, allows its members to contact any other member for free, and automatically highlights any shared affiliation between individuals such as a common undergraduate university or former employer.

Congrats to Mr. Berger and the Universum team.