Bullhorn Acquires Invenias

Cloud computing company Bullhorn has purchased a software provider to the executive search industry. Let’s examine this new blockbuster deal and explore what it brings to a customer base of more than 1,000 executive recruitment providers.

August 2, 2018 – Bullhorn Inc., which provides cloud-based customer relationship management and operations solutions for the staffing industry, has acquired Invenias, a U.K. provider of cloud-based software for executive search firms. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This acquisition is great news for Invenias customers and prospects,” said Peter Linas, EVP of corporate development and international at Boston-based Bullhorn. “It is business as usual for those companies who rely on Invenias, except now they’re part of the Bullhorn family, with easy access to explore our entire ecosystem of solutions if they wish.”

Invenias will continue to serve its customer base of 1,000 executive search customers who use the company’s mobile-optimized SaaS solutions tailored for strategic hiring. Invenias’ founders, CEO David Grundy and CTO and chief product officer Richard Harrison, will still run the company. They will also serve as part of Bullhorn’s expanded international leadership team. The company is also moving forward with the launch of its new platform, Invenias X.


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“Customer experience is of tantamount importance to us, which is why we are welcoming Invenias to the Bullhorn family while retaining their specialist skill-set in executive search,” said Mr. Linas. “We understand that executive search is a unique and extremely important segment within the recruitment industry, and truly believe that Invenias has the best product available to meet the needs of the executive search market. In acquiring Invenias, we seek to support these executive search firms in their growth journeys.”

New Vistas

Mr. Grundy said the acquisition opens new opportunities for Invenias. “Executive search firms increasingly see technology as central to their operations and ability to innovate,” he said. “Now that we are part of the Bullhorn family, Invenias can accelerate our ability to execute on the full vision of our product strategy and enable us to reach and support more customers globally. With a shared ambition to lead the market, a shared passion for creating products users love to use, and a shared commitment to excellence in customer service, we are a natural complement to Bullhorn.”

Executive search firms require a specific set of capabilities to meet their unique requirements, including diverse needs around divisional and company-based non-compete management, digital engagement with top talent, and data protection, said Bullhorn. “This is compounded in light of the [E.U.’s] recent General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as growing skilled-talent shortages and competition around acquisition of top talent globally,” said the company.


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The Invenias Cloud platform is dedicated to serving these needs. This includes enabling customers to develop and leverage deep talent insight, optimize the delivery of complex hiring engagements including digital collaboration and engagement with clients, and manage sensitive issues such as compliance with the GDPR, said Bullhorn.

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Invenias will retain its own sales organization and leadership team, but with access to Bullhorn’s resources, guidance and best practices around customer centricity, said Bullhorn. “This acquisition is testament to Bullhorn’s commitment to serving all segments of the global staffing and recruitment industry, of which executive search is an increasingly visible and unique segment,” said Bullhorn. “Bullhorn has offered an open ecosystem approach since its inception in 1999, and with the recent addition of several Salesforce-based applicant tracking solutions, is focused on offering recruitment agencies the greatest choice and flexibility in selecting a software backbone to power their growth and address their specific business challenges.”

An Expanding Company

Founded in 2005, Invenias is the self-described leading platform for executive search and strategic hiring globally. Its global customers include executive search and strategic recruitment firms such as Harvey Nash, Odgers Berndtson USA, Robert Half Executive Search, Sheffield Haworth, Lancor, Stanton Chase, ON Partners and Skillcapital.

Headquartered in Reading, England and backed by MMC Ventures since 2013, Invenias employs 65 employees across the U.S., EMEA and APAC. With backgrounds in technology and executive search, Invenias’ founders focused on the demand for easy-to-use software and the opportunity for technology to drive innovation and create value for customers.

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Bullhorn is founder-led and employs more than 800 people globally. More than 8,000 staffing companies worldwide use Bullhorn’s cloud-based platform to drive sales, build relationships, and power their recruitment processes from end to end.


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In March, Bullhorn acquired two San Francisco software suppliers, Talent Rover and Jobscience, which also use the Salesforce platform. “With these acquisitions, we are further expanding our long-standing commitment to an open ecosystem, and the additions of Talent Rover and Jobscience to the Bullhorn family will allow us to continue to deliver solutions that best fit our customers’ needs, whether deployed on the Salesforce or the Bullhorn platform,” Art Papas, Bullhorn’s founder and CEO, said at the time.

Other Acquisitions

“Furthermore, we’re making a major investment to deliver the most advanced recruitment and staffing software solutions in the market to our global enterprise customers,” he said. “Talent Rover and Jobscience have built fantastic businesses, and we’re looking forward to working with them to deliver leading-edge solutions to meet the evolving business needs of the enterprise.”

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In September, the company bought Connexys, a Netherlands-based software supplier to European staffing firms. Connexys’s flagship product offering is an applicant tracking system also built on the Salesforce platform. At the time of the acquisition, its solutions were being used by 300 customers and 20,000 recruitment professionals across the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Belgium. Connexys was expected to help accelerate Bullhorn’s ongoing investment in Europe.

Connexys is a leading Salesforce independent software vendor in northern Europe. Alongside its own platform, Bullhorn was expected to market and sell Connexys’s existing solutions, including the Salesforce offering, in the European market. Bullhorn was also looking to leverage the acquisition to expand investment in development of the Bullhorn platform. “The marriage of Bullhorn and Connexys will provide greater service levels, especially in mainland Europe, as well as additional resources for platform investment for customers using the combined entities’ offerings,” said Bullhorn at the time.

Related: Hunt Scanlon’s Top 15 Acquisition Stories of 2017

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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