Today, British technology company Multiverse has acquired AI talent software company Searchlight to help businesses close their skills gap.
Multiverse combines work and learning to provide equal access to economic opportunity. We are closing critical skills gaps through new kinds of apprenticeships, making the most of human-centered coaching, AI and technology to deliver a measured, applied, guided and unbiased approach to learning.
Multiverse partners with over 1,000 organizations to provide data analytics and software engineering training.
In June 2022, the company announced a $220 million Series D funding round co-led by StepStone Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and General Catalyst. The round brings the company to a post-money valuation of $1.7 billion, making it the UK's first edtech unicorn.
Founded in 2018, California-based Searchlight is a talent intelligence platform that develops ethical AI to build high-performing teams. We provide unbiased AI to find top applicants, evaluate candidates, and verify quality of hires. Its unique learning loop leverages employee performance data to make subsequent hires a better fit for your organization.
The combination of Searchlight's technology and talent will accelerate the use of generative AI and machine learning in the multiverse.
Searchlight CEO Kelly Wang will become director of product. Anna Wang, her CTO at Searchlight, will be in charge of her AI.
The Searchlight team will join Multiverse to integrate its talent intelligence technology into Multiverse's platform and lead Multiverse's AI initiatives.
Kelly Wang, co-founder and CEO of Searchlight, said:
“We founded Searchlight to help companies build teams that win fairly and to help individuals land meaningful work. From the moment we met the Multiverse team, we knew It was clear that we shared complementary goals and were solving similar problems.
Together, we can apply Searchlight's technology and expertise at scale to the world's largest companies, effectively becoming the workforce development platform of the future. ”
Ewan Blair, Founder and CEO of Multiverse, said:
“After meeting with Anna and Kelly and learning more about the Searchlight product, I was really excited to see how they use AI to identify internal and external patterns in the workforce and identify upskilling solutions.
Most companies are in the process of technology transformation and want to do so in a fair and effective way. Often what holds them back is the gap between the change they want to see and the skills to unleash it.
“Searchlight’s AI, platform, and great talent will enable us to better diagnose the skills needed within your organization and deliver impactful solutions. Combined with our technology and team, we are certain that more businesses and individuals will benefit.”
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Searchlight is the company's second acquisition, following the acquisition of another Y Combinator company, Eduflow, in May 2023.