Gradguide founder and CEO Mark Hughes. Image: Gradguide
The platform said it has grown rapidly following a €2m equity investment by CluneTech last year.
Gradguide, a Dublin company that pairs students and graduates with mentors and tech employers, has been acquired by UK tech company Native for an undisclosed amount.
The deal follows a €2m majority equity investment into Gradguide last year from CluneTech.
Founded by CEO Mark Hughes with Ian Guerin, Matthew Brennan and Dave Martin in 2019, Gradguide was created to help bridge the gap from college to company for students and recent graduates.
Since the CluneTech investment, Gradguide has grown to have more than 20,000 graduates signed up on its platform. It also has more than 300 mentors supporting graduates and 65 partners across the tech sector.
“We are super excited for the next chapter of Gradguide under Native,” Hughes said.
“Having access to over a million students and grads as well as the strong university partnerships will help us massively in our vision to be the largest graduate recruitment and mentorship network in Europe.”
Native has developed a platform to connect students with events in and around university campuses. It has more than 1.6m students on its platform, which aims to help global advertisers, event organisers and student unions connect with those at university.
The UK company said it is now looking to expand further into Ireland through its acquisition of Gradguide.
“Students want and deserve more from their time at university, including to depart feeling fully prepared for the future of work,” said Native CEO and founder Nick Musto.
“Together, Gradguide and Native are perfectly placed to help students enjoy the holistic university experience they desire – and we’re excited to be able to support students from freshers to graduation and beyond.”
CluneTech CEO and Gradguide chair Terry Clune said Native is a “perfect fit” for the Dublin-based company as it moves onto its next stage of growth.
“I’d like to extend my warm congratulations to Native and to Mark and the Gradguide team on this acquisition,” Clune said. “I’m excited to see how they will combine forces to bring further value to the university and tech sectors in Ireland and abroad.”
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