By Jess Jones
In a rare swoop, a UK tech company has snapped up one of its American peers.
Founded by Euan Blair, Multiverse has bought California-based Searchlight, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help companies improve employees’ skills. Financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.
Unicorn Multiverse plans to use Searchlight’s technology to speed up the integration of generative AI and machine learning into its operations, helping identify, analyse and address skill gaps within organisations.
It marks Searchlight’s second acquisition, following the purchase of Eduflow in May 2023.
Such cross-border acquisitions are a rarity, with only 13 UK-based companies acquiring US counterparts in the past two months, compared to 48 in the opposite direction, according to data from Crunchbase.
Searchlight was founded in 2018 by Stanford graduates and twins Anna Wang and Kerry Wang. According to the company’s own data, it is capable of identifying candidate matches and mismatches for hiring teams four times more accurately than traditional hiring techniques.
Chief executive, Kerry Wang, said: “We founded Searchlight to help companies build winning teams equitably and help individuals land meaningful work. From the moment I met the Multiverse team, it was clear that we share complementary goals and have been solving similar problems.
“By joining forces we can apply Searchlight’s tech and expertise at scale with some of the world’s largest companies, effectively becoming the workforce development platform of the future.”
She will spearhead efforts to integrate Searchlight’s ‘talent intelligence’ technology into Multiverse’s platform, while chief of technology Anna Wang will lead Multiverse’s AI initiatives as head of AI.
Founder and chief executive of Multiverse, Blair, said: “After meeting Anna and Kerry and digging into the Searchlight product, I was really excited at how they were using AI to spot patterns and identify skilling solutions both within and outside of the workforce.
“Searchlight’s AI, platform and exceptional talent will allow us to better diagnose the skills needed within companies and deliver impactful solutions. Combining our scale and world-class learning with Searchlight’s technology and team will ensure even more companies and individuals benefit.”
In June 2022, Multiverse closed a $220m Series D funding round and it has a post-money valuation of $1.7bn, making it a unicorn.
At the time of the funding round, Blair said: “There has never been a more pressing time to create an alternative to university education that is equitable and inclusive and there is an incredible opportunity before us to change the status quo with apprenticeships.”
But last year, City A.M. revealed that Multiverse faced allegations of a “cut-throat” work culture, with staffers angry about a shift in the company’s strategic focus away from education and towards upskilling existing employees, where most of its revenue is made.
As of last November, the Paddington-headquartered start-up bled £40.5m over the year, widening its losses from £14.2m in the year prior.
