Multiverse, the British unicorn which creates learning programs allowing people to acquire technological skills while at work, has made an acquisition with the aim of upskilling. The company purchased Searchlight, a startup and recruiting platform that uses artificial intelligence-based technology to source talent. The plan will be to use Searchlight’s technology to create new AI products for Multiverse to expand its professional training services.
“Searchlight’s AI, platform and exceptional talent will enable us to better diagnose the skills needed within businesses and deliver effective solutions,” Euan Blair, founder and CEO of Multiverse, said in a statement. “By combining our scale and world-class learning with Searchlight’s technology and team, we will ensure that even more businesses and individuals benefit.” »
Searchlight was co-founded by twin sisters Kerry and Anna Wang (CEO and CTO respectively). Its existing customers (which include Udemy, Zapier, Talkdesk and other technology companies) will continue to be served until their contracts end. After that, the plan will be to remove Searchlight’s recruiting services to focus on Multiverse’s business.
The agreement highlights the growing role AI plays in the worlds of work and education. Some people will use AI to speed up their tasks; others will argue that AI completely takes over certain jobs. This acquisition responds to a third area in which AI appears: helping to build more effective professional training services to fill recruitment gaps.
AI and recruitment have sometimes gone hand in hand. Amazon already had to abandon an AI-powered recruiting tool after it was found to be inherently biased against women for technical roles, due to their training on typical recruiting data, which most often came from ‘men. But technology — and specifically awareness of how models are built and trained — has come a long way since then, Searchlight’s CEO told TechCrunch.
“Our AI model is able to identify a good match for a role four times larger than a traditional interview,” Wang said. “We are solving the exact same problem: increased and equitable access to economic opportunity for all. Multiverse had a great business, but they are looking to expand into an all-in-one workforce development platform. Kerry will become director of product at Multiverse, while Anna will become head of AI.
Founded and led by Blair (the son of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and renowned lawyer Cherie Booth Blair), Multiverse currently has approximately 1,000 customers, with a past and present client list including Cisco, organizations governments, financial services and industrial companies. businesses.
While Multiverse first became known with its focus on apprenticeships as a viable alternative for people seeking careers in rapidly evolving fields like technology, it has since expanded to cover training professionalism of people already employed. Multiverse now offers AI-based services, said Ujjwal Singh, the company’s CTO and CPO: It already offers a personalized AI assistant coach for users. Now, it clearly wants to continue integrating more technology to improve the overall platform and its credibility with a set of customers determined to buy and use what appear to be the most modern services possible.
The financial terms of the deal are not disclosed, but for some context, the Wang sisters — both impressive and accomplished Stanford graduates — launched their startup through Y Combinator in 2018. In total, Searchlight has raised nearly 20 million dollars, but it was mainly through fundraising. several years ago, a $17 million Series A in 2021. Its long list of investors included a number of prominent names such as Accel, Founders Fund, Emerson Collective, and Shasta Ventures. Pitchbook estimated its 2021 valuation at $64 million.
Multiverse, meanwhile, was last valued at $1.7 billion in 2022 and has seen strong fundraising over the years, raising several hundred million dollars from investors including General Catalyst and Lightspeed. This is the company’s second acquisition following that of another YC company, Eduflow, last year.
From what we understand, investors are “happy” with the result. “From the beginning, Anna and Kerry thought about building Searchlight’s AI models to complement their vision,” Keith Rabois, who led the Series A round, said in a statement provided to TechCrunch. “Searchlight’s differentiated technology attracts innovative companies like Multiverse. I am excited about the benefits of this acquisition for Searchlight and Multiverse.”
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