LinkedIn to acquire Bright, a data-driven job search startup

LinkedIn has announced its plans to acquire Bright, a job seeking site for $120 million. It will be the professional social networking site’s biggest acquisitions so far. LinkedIn had earlier acquired SlideShare and Pulse for $119 million and $90 million respectively. Bright has an algorithmic approach towards job seekers and matching positions. It scores applicants to gauge how good they could be for a particular job profile. This helps narrow down the candidates eligible for the job and avoids the hassle of sifting through numerous resumes. The startup has raised over $20 million so far, according to Re/code. In its official blog post, LinkedIn’s Parker Barille said, “At LinkedIn, we’ve invested a lot of time and energy into developing products like 'Jobs You May Be Interested In' and LinkedIn Recruiter that use data to match members with the right opportunities and employers with the right prospects at scale. And that’s why Bright is such a great fit.” With this acquisition, LinkedIn plans to leverage Bright’s data-driven approach to connecting people and employers. The startup has built a matching technology that could help LinekdIn accelerate on multiple fronts. “As we add more job listings over the next several years, Bright’s powerful matching technology will be integral to ensuring that the prospects we suggest to employers and opportunities we surface for prospects are increasingly relevant,” Barille said further. LinkedIn plans to close the deal by the end of its first financial quarter. The terms of the deal reportedly include 73 percent of the $120 million in stock, and the rest amount of $32.4 million in cash.