Cornerstone OnDemand buys predictive hiring startup Evolv for $42.5 million

Santa Monica-based human resources software maker Cornerstone OnDemand is buying predictive hiring startup Evolv for $42.5 million. The acquisition will deepen Cornerstone’s analytics capabilities as Evolv uses predictive models and algorithms to find patterns and evaluate the skills, work experience and personalities of employees and job candidates. Cornerstone has a number of human resources products and it hopes to combine its user data with Evolv's technology to better predict job performance.

 

“We have seen the talent management market advance over the last decade, as global organizations shifted from a focus on process automation through client server solutions to a focus on employee engagement through a consumerized, unified talent management suite. Now we are moving to the next generation of data-driven talent management in a world of big data,” said Adam Miller, president and CEO of Cornerstone OnDemand in a statement.

 

In the past, hiring has been based on gut instinct and business traditions. In theory, Evolv could start demystifying hiring decisions by making them more logical. For example, the company’s website points out that the traditional hiring myth that prospective employees with a series of short-term jobs are “job hoppers” and are unfit for work. In fact, many employees with short-term job experiences may have just been working under temporary contracts and haven’t been given the chance to settle into a longer-term commitment. Hiring, instead of passing over, an employee like that could improve the efficiency of finding new workers.

 

“There are so many untapped opportunities for employers to improve their decision-making using data that already exists,” said Max Simkoff, CEO of Evolv. “We are extremely excited to apply our machine learning and data science expertise to Cornerstone’s organically-developed, unified talent management platform to help organizations find these new insights.”

 

Evolv's predictive models will have a lot of data to work with when it is combined with Cornerstone's 1,800 customers and 15.5 million users. Cornerstone's cloud-base HR software helps companies manage hiring, onboarding and continuous employee training.

 

Cornerstone has been something of a tent pole company in Los Angeles. Though it is not as flashy as consumer facing Snapchat or NastyGal, the company annually sponsors a large Los Angeles focused tech conference, the LA Tech Summit, employs several hundred people and is publically traded on the NASDAQ with a market cap of $1.76 billion. Last year the company took on a $220 million debt round for international expansion and launched the “Cornerstone Innovation Fund,” an investment arm. The Cornerstone Innovation Fund provides seed funding of between $250,000 to $1 million, acceleration and incubation resources to startups of strategic importance to Cornerstone.

 

The $42.5 million purchase of Evolv will be Cornerstone’s largest acquisition to date.