BV Investment Partners, a middle-market private equity firm focused on the tech-enabled business services, software and IT services sectors, announced today a majority investment in Talent, Inc. , a leading provider of tech-enabled career services.
Founded in 2014 and based in New York City, Talent provides tech-enabled career services focused on resume and online profile review and creation. The Company leverages a proprietary technology platform, network of resume reviewers, and BPO model to efficiently serve job seeker demand for such services. Through its set of core brands including TopResume, TopCV, TopInterview, ResumeRabbit and ZipJob, Talent has had more than 20 million people sign up for resume reviews since it was founded.
In conjunction with the transaction, BV is partnering with Byron Matthews – an experienced industry leader who most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer at Korn Ferry Digital – who joins Talent as Chief Executive Officer. Additionally, former BV Operating Partner Mike Ricciardelli has joined Talent full-time as President and COO.
Justin Harrison, Managing Partner of BV Investment Partners, said, "The Talent Inc. investment aligns with several areas of expertise for BV including education and training, marketing services and lead generation, and tech-enabled business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions. Our previous investments in these sectors will allow us to leverage those successful experiences and build Talent into an even stronger global provider of career development tools."
Byron Matthews, newly-named Chief Executive Officer of Talent, expressed his excitement at the opportunity, stating "The powerful combination of Talent's technology platform, independent contractor network, and BPO model help job seekers make an impact as they navigate today's highly competitive employment market. I look forward to partnering with the BV team, who are seasoned in building tech-focused companies like ours."
Jason Kustka, Managing Director at BV Investment Partners, commented, "Talent is a compelling tech-enabled business model well positioned in a large, growing market that is aligned with BV's broader thesis around 'upskilling and re-skilling' of the workforce. We see multiple opportunities for BV to add value with the management team via brand and channel expansion, international growth, M&A opportunities, and development of adjacent opportunities."
Prior to joining Talent, Byron Matthews was President and CEO of Miller Heiman Group and Chief Commercial Officer at Korn Ferry Digital. With more than 20 years of experience, Mr. Matthews has consulted for and led sales organizations for several Fortune 500 companies. He has collaborated with industry leaders like Microsoft, AT&T and Samsung on the development of pipeline and revenue management solutions, implementation of sales methodologies, optimization of sales management processes and compensation plans, and competency models linked to assessment and recruiting.
Talent is the fourth investment in BV Fund X, which closed on February 28, 2020 at $1.1B of commitments.
About Talent Inc.
Talent Inc. was founded in 2014 with the mission to help job seekers navigate career changes and differentiate themselves in a competitive job market. Through its suite of brands, Talent provides professional resume writing, professional CV writing and interview preparation coaching. For more information, please visit https://www.talentinc.com.
About BV Investment Partners
BV Investment Partners is one of the oldest and most experienced sector-focused private equity firms in North America. Since its founding in 1983, the firm has invested approximately $3.8 billion, actively targeting investments in the business services, software and IT services industries. For more information, please visit www.bvlp.com.
