PE-Backed Checkr Acquires GoodHire in $400 Million Deal
May 2, 2022 – Checkr, a private equity backed HR technology company, has entered into an agreement to acquire Inflection, whose flagship brand GoodHire is a provider in background checks for small businesses. This is Checkr’s largest acquisition to date, enhancing its leadership in the background check sector. “This acquisition is bringing two of the most innovative companies in our space together,” said Daniel Yanisse, CEO of Checkr. “Our teams have so much in common: a focus on building delightful experiences for customers, very similar cultural values and most importantly, a commitment to build a fairer future for workers.”
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, creating the vast majority of new jobs in North America,” said Naeem Ishaq, CFO of Checkr. “We’re excited that this strategic acquisition enables Checkr to tap into this incredible growth and further accelerate our fastest growing customer segment. It has been a labor of love to bring these two amazing companies together and I know it will accelerate our mission to build a better future… together!” Mike Grossman, CEO of Inflection, said: “We’re excited to join forces with Checkr and help make compliance and hiring easier, faster and more accurate. I am confident that together we will continue to always build the best products for our customers.”
The acquisition is a critical part of Checkr’s expansion strategy in its fastest growing small-to-medium sized (SMB) business segment. GoodHire serves tens of thousands of customers in this segment. It provides a self-service background check solution, designed specifically for small businesses, featuring a 100 percent online experience and built-in compliance.
“Companies of all sizes now expect digital tooling and a great candidate experience to win the war for talent — the kind delivered by innovative gig companies like Uber and Doordash,” the company said. “With this acquisition, Checkr is positioned to bring an innovative, best-in-class software platform to customers of all sizes – now including small businesses as well.”
Since 2013, GoodHire has been a background check partner to organizations globally. With its technology-first approach, coupled with a focus on customer service, GoodHire uses automation and advanced data engineering to help customers accelerate hiring and make more confident hiring decisions.
Checkr, which was founded in 2014, is valued at $5 billion. With artificial intelligence and machine learning, the company’s platform and solutions make background checks faster, easier, and more compliant. Using Checkr’s advanced screening technology, companies can better understand the dynamics of the changing workforce and bring transparency and fairness to their hiring. Its customers include Uber, Instacart, Netflix, Adecco, Airbnb, Coinbase and customers from SMBs to Fortune 500 employers.
Recent Acquisition
Checkr recently acquired ModoHR Technologies Inc., a Canadian-based background check company. “The acquisition of ModoHR is a strategic step toward international expansion for us,” said Mr. Yanisse. “I am excited to bring the ModoHR team to Checkr and take our platform leadership, candidate experience, customer-first mindset and most importantly our commitment to build a fairer future to customers around the world.”
“The combination of Checkr and ModoHR distinguishes us as an industry leader and we are thrilled to bring our Canadian expertise to such an innovative company,” said Ken Cahoon, president and CEO of ModoHR. “This transaction allows ModoHR clients greater access to resources and integrations through a single, unified platform. Together, we can offer more technology innovation and access to background checking services throughout North America and globally.”
HackerRank Raises $60 Million in Funding
HackerRank, a hiring platform for technology talent, has closed $60 million in series D funding led by Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE). Additional investors in HackerRank include JMI, Khosla Ventures, Randstad Innovation Fund, and Recruit Holdings. To date, HackerRank has raised more than $115 million in total funding. HackerRank will use the funding to fuel continued growth and accelerate its ability to drive technical hiring for the most in-demand roles and skills at companies across the globe. The funding will also be used to expand the depth of services provided by its global team, invest in technical innovation and partnerships, and scale the team across all departments.
Funding will be used to expand HackerRank’s Developer Skills Platform to support screening and interviewing for technical skills in emerging areas like machine learning, blockchain, and crypto. The funds will also allow the company to support skill assessments beyond software development, including skills in hardware, design, and QA, as well as soft skills to better evaluate attributes increasingly valued among distributed teams. Across the board, HackerRank will invest heavily in its technical platform, which supports customers in all stages of the developer lifecycle, from pre-hire through post-hire stages.
ModoHR provides organizations with scalable and compliant solutions to conduct accurate background checks through their ScreeningCanada platform. The ScreeningCanada.ca platform is a comprehensive application offering customers a single, unified workflow for requesting and monitoring results while preserving the privacy and security of information passed through the platform.
Related: Randstad US Launches Technology Tools to Safely Return Employees to the Workplace
ModoHR will significantly enhance Checkr’s offering, bringing the ScreeningCanada technology and expertise to North American organizations. Specifically, the acquisition will allow Checkr clients greater access to Canadian background check data. Canadian clients will continue to experience the excellent customer service provided by the ModoHR team and all data will continue to be stored in Canada.
Related: Hunt Scanlon Media Launches M&A Advisory Service for Recruiters
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
