HR TECH
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2022 Was Another Record Year for HR Tech: Merger & Acquisition Activities that Shaped the Market
Overall HR Tech M&A Trends and Insights
- Analytics and deep insights for the win: More businesses are pursuing, acquiring, or hiring a team that has the know-how to incorporate intelligence/analytics into current technologies (whether that be true people analytics, skill analytics, or other areas). This started happening in 2021, intensified in 2022, and is likely to continue through 2023. By doing this, legacy technology may become smarter and more competitive against newly released products.
- Market consolidation continues: When the budget is tight, businesses with a shorter capital runway require an exit, while companies with cash can buy up important technology (and people, occasionally) to consolidate the market and maybe improve their capacity to give consumers with new services.
- Hiring was THE trend of Q1-Q3 2022: There is greater volume in that region than any other since hiring has received priority during the past year. Hiring is always significant for VC financing and M&A activity, but the desire from employers for any technology that might improve their sourcing, speed up their screening processes, or increase the quality of their hires was out of this world. Although recruiting has slowed down a bit, many frontline businesses are still hiring heavily.
Key 2022 HR Technology Mergers and Acquisitions
HCM, Analytics, and Core HR Systems
- HiBob, an award-winning HRIS platform for global teams, acquired Bugle to increase its global footprint and expand operations.
- Visier nabbed Yva.ai, a company that offers critical insights into relationships and work dynamics, to increase the value companies receive from their people analytics. Visier also picked up Boostrs, a skills intelligence engine.
- Namely, a modern HR system for mid market firms, joined forces with Vensure Employment Services and PrismHR, two leaders in the PEO space.
- Paycor, one of the leading providers of SMB HR technology, acquired sourcing and talent intelligence provider Taleny
Talent Acquisition and Hiring
- WilsonHCG, one of the leading RPO providers, acquired Claro Analytics. This brings talent intelligence in-house but also allows Claro to be sold standalone as well.
- Checkr, one of the biggest names in modern background check platforms, scooped up GoodHire.
- Employ, the parent company for Jobvite, Talemetry, JazzHR, and NXTThing RPO, added Lever, a market-leading ATS and CRM provider for midmarket employers to its portfolio.
- MitraTech, a 2022 HR Tech Award winner for its compliance software, nabbed high-volume hiring system TalentReef and background check company AssureHire.
- FairyGodBoss, the world’s largest online community for women at work, was acquired by The Muse. We’re seeing a lot of interest from the workforce in community-based platforms and applications for discussing work, such as Blind and Fishbowl.
Talent Management and Employee Engagement
- Perceptyx acquired Cultivate for AI-powered coaching to support action-oriented planning that integrates into the flow of employee listening strategies.
- Kazoo (formed from a merger of HighGround and YouEarnedIt in 2019) picked up WorkTango and renamed itself after the acquired company, offering everything from performance and employee listening to engagement and recognition tools under one banner.
- SilkRoad Technology, the pioneer in onboarding technology, grabbed Entelo, a recruiting technology provider.
Learning Management Technology
- Cornerstone bought EdCast. Then SumTotal. Read our analysis of the early announcement here.
- Axonify, a market leader in frontline worker training and performance support, picked up Nudge to further expand its offerings.
- eLearning Brothers received $54 million in funding and rebranded to ELB before acquiring Rehearsal, CoreAxis, Origin Learning, and others to solidify its position as a market leader.
CONCLUSION
Despite the ongoing economic difficulties, 2023 is expected to be a year of intriguing activity as businesses with funds will buy and integrate innovations from organizations that might not be able to weather the storm. Follow our continuous analysis and published market insights for HR technology to stay up to date.