News

Sumeru Equity Partners has invested $56 million in Criteria Corp, a SaaS-based employment analytics platform. In addition to the funding, SEP Managing Directors Jason Babcoke and John Brennan and Vice President Kevin Cheng will join Criteria’s board of directors.

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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”

“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.