Checkr, a US-based recruitment-auditing software provider backed by internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, has received $160m in a funding round led by unnamed accounts advised by T.Rowe Price Associates.
The round also featured venture capital firms Accel and IVP, accelerator operator Y Combinator, growth equity firm Bond Capital and hedge fund manager Coatue Management. It valued the company at $2.2bn according to Forbes.
Founded in 2014, Checkr markets a software platform used by employers and recruitment agencies to improve the quality and fairness of their hiring campaigns by reducing the scope for fraudulent applications or manual selection bias.
The product utilises machine learning algorithms to eliminate candidates that do not meet the employer’s predefined conditions, making it more difficult for inferior applications to be given undue precedence.
Checkr also updates users on any criminal records that would disqualify an applicant from a role, and verifies their identity with facial biometrics to help prevent identity fraud.
The capital will go to enriching the company’s platform, launching new products and introducing editions of its software tailored to international markets.
Accel led a $9m series A round for Checkr in 2014 that included Google Ventures, the Alphabet unit now called GV, as well as Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Data Collective and angel investors including Elad Gil.
Y Combinator Continuity Fund then led Checkr’s $40m series B round in 2016 with contributions from IVP, Accel, David Spector and Elad Gil at a reported valuation of $250m to $300m. The company added $100m in an April 2018 series C round led by T.Rowe Price Associates and backed by Accel and Y Combinator.
Checkr’s co-founder and chief executive, Daniel Yanisse, said: “With consumer’s consent and control of their data, we believe in a better future where companies use data fairly and accurately to expand access to job opportunities for workers from diverse backgrounds.
“By bringing Checkr into new markets and building new hiring products, we can help more companies and workers around the world adapt to the future economy.”