Victoria-based startup Certn has raised $65.1 million CAD ($50 million USD) in its all-equity Series B round that closed on April 29.
Led by B Capital, the financing also received contributions from BMO, Tribe, Inovia Capital, Telstra Ventures, Scribble, Moxxie Ventures, and Gaingels Covalent Ventures.
“Certn has taken the traditionally time-consuming … experience of background screening and found a way to create a … simple experience for employers and candidates.”
– Rashmi Gopinath
Co-founded in 2016 by Andrew McLeod, Owen Madrick, and Evan Dalton, Certn offers people intelligence solutions with a focus on real-time comprehensive background checks and ongoing risk monitoring for employees, contractors, and tenants.
With a client base of staffing firms, property management companies, and the gig economy, Certn’s platform uses artificial intelligence to predict applicant behaviours and has the ability to return domestic and international criminal background checks, credit reports, reference checks, education verification, employment verification, motor vehicle records, and identity verification within minutes. VentureBeat reported that Certn’s solution is used by over 2,800 enterprises.
“Certn has taken the traditionally time-consuming, manual, and archaic experience of background screening and found a way to create a quick, accurate, and simple experience for employers and candidates,” said Rashmi Gopinath, general partner at B Capital. “Its AI-enabled SaaS platform facilitates trust in the global workplace and provides essential hiring and background verification solutions for organizations who want to foster a culture of trust in their company.”
Backed by fresh funds, McLeod said that Certn plans to further invest in its product, new markets, and partnership programs. The company also intends to create 160 new roles this year in addition to a number of its past strategic hires, which includes a new managing director for the United States market.
RELATED: Certn acquires United Kingdom’s Credence to expand background checks solutions
Certn has recently made inroads to the United Kingdom market this year, with its acquisition of southeastern England-based Credence.
To scale its offering, Certn also brought on Susan Davis as its first ever chief technology officer in July last year.
With a total funding of $108 million, Certn’s past financings include a $975,000 seed round announced in 2018, $10,000 in prize money from the BCIC-New Ventures competition in 2017, and a cumulative $43 million that was raised throughout the entire year in 2021.
Image source Certn via Glassdoor.