Talent matching startup Eightfold AI raises $220 mln in round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2

Garg Furnace

10/06/2021 10:00

By Jane Lanhee Lee
    June 10 (Reuters) - Eightfold AI, a talent matching
platform, said on Thursday it raised $220 million in a funding
round led by SoftBank Group Corp's  9984.T  Vision Fund 2 that
doubled the company's valuation since the previous funding round
to over $2 billion.
    Eightfold AI helps companies evaluate talent by scraping
data from company sources such as sales and customer management
or human resources platforms along with public data from
patents, publications or design portfolios.
    “We will integrate with all those systems and bring the
employee data all in one place and use that to build what we
call a 360 degree profile of each and every employee,” said
Ashutosh Garg, founder and CEO at Eightfold AI. 
    The profile will help employees find other suitable jobs
within the company or help managers identify them for promotions
or new jobs. The tool can also be used when recruiting new
employees and suggesting new courses that employees can take to
advance their careers, said Garg.
    He said over 100 companies and some U.S. states are
customers, and that Eightfold AI is used in over 110 countries
and available in 15 languages. 
    In March, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development
announced it was offering Eightfold AI to help unemployed
workers find jobs, and Garg said some other states will announce
that people collecting unemployment benefits must use Eightfold
AI.
    Deep Nishar, senior managing partner at SoftBank Investment
Advisers, said Eightfold AI took a more holistic approach than
other companies offering solutions to recruitment and career
management. He siad he expected it could grow to be “bigger than
all of them combined”.
    Many of SoftBank’s investments have been in areas utilizing
technology, especially artificial intelligence, in different
industries.

 (Reporting By Jane Lanhee Lee; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((jane.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +1-415-344-3912; Reuters
Messaging: jane.lee.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))