Japan's Recruit Holdings invests $7.5m in US-based HackerRank
Japan's Recruit Holdings has paid $7.5 million for a stake in HackerRank, a US technical recruitment platform owned by Interviewstreet, via its $20 million corporate venture capital fund - HR Technology Fund.
California-based HackerRank has two businesses lines. One is an online engineering community where coders can test their skills, and are ranked among peers. The other is a suite of services for HR professionals seeking out technology talent.
The business currently claims to have more than 1000 technology clients. Recruit has a pre-existing relationship with HackerRank through its subsidiary Indeed, a service it uses to evaluate its own engineering hires.
"As the demand for technology talent continues to outstrip supply, HackerRank offers an efficient way for HR professionals to evaluate talent beyond traditional means," said Recruit HR Technology Fund president Chihiro Ueda in a statement. "They have built their reputation on being the go-to community for tech talent assessment."
The HR Technology Fund was launched in January with an initial capitalization of about $20 million and invests in companies from the seed stage to pre-IPO. Earlier this year the fund backed All4Staff, another US tech firm that offers an automated onboarding solution for the HR industry.
Recruit was set up in 1960 and is one of the leading information services and human resources firms in Japan. The company has more than 30,000 employees and operates in Asia and North America.
Outside of its HR fund activity, the firm is also an active acquirer of VC-backed companies. Early this month it acquired UK edutech start-up Quipper for $40 million - its second acquisition in the country after buying online hair and beauty marketplace Wahanda, for JPY4.5 billion ($37.6 million) in May.
Prior to that, in March, it acquired German VC-backed restaurant booking site Quandoo for EUR198.6 million ($219 million). It also bought Australia-based IT and specialist recruiting firm Peoplebank from Navis Capital Partners for A$68.6 million ($56.6 million).
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