Less than a year after closing its first acquisition, apprenticeship unicorn Multiverse has completed its second.
It is buying US-based Searchlight, which leverages unbiased AI to close skills gaps.
Let's explore the potential of this deal with exclusive comments from Multiverse and Searchlight executives.
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Like HR tech, edtech is booming right now.
The sector is valued at $108 billion in 2022, and it is expected to grow at a rate of 14% each year and reach $412 billion by 2034.
This makes sense as skills (not jobs) are the currency in the current and future of work, so it is no surprise that the edtech space is ripe for disruptive deals, mergers and acquisitions right now.
Founded in 2016 by Euan Blair (former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s eldest son), Multiverse is on a mission to deliver equitable access to economic opportunity for all through apprenticeships.
Searchlight is a US-based talent intelligence and skills assessment platform, which was founded by twins Kerry and Anna Wang in 2018, powered by AI and backed by Y Combinator.
Searchlight is Multiverse’s second acquisition – Multiverse bought Danish social learning platform Eduflow in 2023. But Searchlight is Multiverse’s first purchase in the US market, which the apprenticeship unicorn expanded into three years ago.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But, following the deal, Searchlight CEO Kerry Wang will serve as Director of Product, while Searchlight’s CTO, Anna Wang, will become Head of AI at Multiverse.
Multiverse, AI and skills gaps
The core reasoning behind Multiverse’s decision to buy Searchlight is it sits at the intersection of AI and skills, and offers an unbiased way to identify and close skills gaps.
This acquisition will, therefore, help accelerate the AI already in place at Multiverse; AI is a core part of the learning and development resources it provides to apprentices during their employment.
In fact, Multiverse’s customers in the UK and the US already have access to Searchlight’s tech to help them close their skills gaps and find the right apprenticeship candidates.
Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH, Multiverse’s CPTO Ujjwal Singh notes: “The acquisition of Searchlight is accelerating our leadership in applying AI in education and skills for the workforce.
“With Searchlight, we are bringing in extraordinary tech.
“We will be using the state-of-the-art AI models that the Searchlight team has built to more effectively and efficiently assess, identify, and analyze skills gaps in the workforce and then use our existing platform to address those skills gaps through upskilling and reskilling.
Searchlight, very notably, have built this bias-free AI engine which is huge for us, as equitability is at the heart of our mission.”
Searchlight CEO and now director of product at Multiverse Kerry Wang adds: “What we saw in Multiverse was a company that was completely aligned to our big-picture objectives for the future of work.”
Multiverse currently has 1,000 customers the UK and the US, including Microsoft, Citi, KPMG and Unilever. UNLEASH was keen to find out what this acquisition will mean for them.
Anna Wang, CTO of Searchlight and Head of AI at Multiverse, tells UNLEASH: “For Multiverse’s customers, what they can expect to see is an acceleration of the use of AI across Multiverse’s product portfolio.
In particular, the tools that will enable them to identify where there are skills gaps, so they can deploy training to close those gaps and unlock the transformation that can bring.”
Kerry Wang continues: “Searchlight’s AI engine delivers a systematic way of assessing what skills currently exist within an organization, what is missing, and which people are great candidates at filling those skill gaps.
“Integrated into Multiverse’s platform, our technology now touches the entire employee journey to deliver greater impact at a larger scale.”
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