Connectifier was an American company that developed
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence.
Machine ...
-based searching and matching technology to help recruiters and hiring managers find talent.
The company was acquired by
LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
in February 2016 and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary until April 2020. The company had roughly 50 employees at the time of acquisition and drew its bench of AI talent from prestigious institutions including
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
,
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
,
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research (MSR) is the research subsidiary of Microsoft. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technologi ...
,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
,
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
,
Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie may refer to:
People
* Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan
Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie
*Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polyt ...
, and
Berkeley National Lab.
History
Connectifier was founded in 2011 by John Jersin and Benjamin McCann.
At the time of its acquisition, Connectifier had raised a total of $12 million across three rounds of funding. In 2013, the company participated in Class 4 of the Launchpad LA
accelerator started by
Mark Suster
Mark Suster is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a managing partner at Upfront Ventures, the largest venture capital firm in Los Angeles. Suster is a prominent blogger in the startup venture capital world.
Career
In 1999, ...
receiving a $50,000 investment and recruited its first two employees from
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
. The company announced it secured
Series A financing of $6 million on June 16, 2015. In October of 2015, the company raised an additional $6 million in Series B financing.
By 2015, the company was reported to have grown at an annual rate of 487% reaching a run rate of $10 million in annual revenue in 18 months after launch. It was reported later that year that Connectifier had tens of thousands of recruiters as clients and was delivering two to four times as many candidates as LinkedIn. By 2016, Connectifier's customers included over 40% of the Fortune 100.
LinkedIn announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the company on February 4, 2016.
Connectifier's technology and features were integrated into LinkedIn Recruiter and
Microsoft Bing
Microsoft Bing (commonly known as Bing) is a web search engine owned and operated by Microsoft. The service has its origins in Microsoft's previous search engines: MSN Search, Windows Live Search and later Live Search. Bing provides a variety ...
and the product was sunset as a standalone offering on April 30, 2020.
References
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Online companies of the United States
LinkedIn
2016 mergers and acquisitions