Criteria Corp, a market leading SaaS based employment analytics
platform, today announced that Sumeru Equity Partners (SEP) has made a
$56 million strategic investment to accelerate product innovation and
growth. SEP Managing Directors Jason Babcoke and John Brennan and Vice
President Kevin Cheng will join Criteria’s board of directors. This is
the second investment out of Sumeru Equity Partners Fund III.
“Criteria’s offerings fundamentally shape the most critical element of
any company or organization by using proven employment analytics to help
identify, hire, and develop talent. As a result, the company has seen
break-out growth and is quickly becoming a category leader,” said
Babcoke. “Companies like Criteria with strong product and domain
expertise are attractive investments for us and we are excited about
partnering with the founders and management team to help write the next
chapter of growth.”
The growth of the pre-employment testing and analytics market has been
driven by employers’ increased awareness of the high costs of turnover
and unproductive hires. Employers are now relying on the use of
evidence-based tools to help them make high stakes hiring decisions, and
Criteria’s employment assessments have been shown to increase hiring
success rates by an average of 52% and reduce turnover by 20-50%.
Criteria was cofounded by Josh Millet, David Sherman, and Eric Loken in
2006. “We are very excited about partnering with SEP to continue to grow
our business,” said Josh Millet, CEO of Criteria. “Their product focus
and growth-driven approach make them an ideal partner for Criteria for
the next phase of our development. This investment is an important
validation of our approach, and we will use it to accelerate our
go-to-market and invest heavily in product development in a way that we
expect will be very impactful for our customers.” David Sherman,
Criteria’s COO, added, “We have experienced tremendous growth for many
years and are excited about Criteria’s future with Sumeru’s support.”
Paul Hastings LLP served as legal advisor to Sumeru Equity Partners.
About Criteria Corp
Criteria Corporation is the leader in web-based pre-employment
testing. Criteria’s HireSelect® service is web-based software that
allows companies to implement a state-of-the-art employee testing
program quickly and cost-effectively, without needing to spend money on
costly consulting services. HireSelect® features employment
aptitude tests, employment
personality tests, and basic
skills tests. Criteria has 3,500 active customers who have
collectively administered more than 15 million assessments. To find out
more visit www.criteriacorp.com.
About Sumeru Equity Partners
Sumeru Equity Partners is a technology-focused private equity firm that
invests in middle market companies across software, technology-enabled
services and hardware. The firm employs a growth-oriented partnership
model with technology companies and typically invests $25-200 million
per transaction. The firm was founded in 2015 by an experienced team
from Silver Lake Sumeru, a private equity fund started in 2007 within
Silver Lake. Sumeru Equity Partners utilizes extensive operating and
investment experience in partnership with management teams to drive
company growth and build strategic value. For more information please
visit www.sumeruequity.com.
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