Gradguide a career events, mentorship and graduate recruitment platform that helps to bridge the gap from college to company for students and recent graduates have today announced they have been acquired by natve for an undisclosed amount.
This news comes on the back of a €2m equity investment by CluneTech 18 months ago in March 2021.
native is on a mission to modernise the student ecosystem, connecting students with amazing experiences so they have the best possible time at university. They support campuses across the UK and Ireland with powerful engagement tools, and provide a diverse line up of high quality virtual and in-person events that meet ever changing student demands.
Boasting over 1.6m students on the native platform, global advertisers have direct access to new on-and-offline media channels to reach students. Event organisers trust native to bring their content and events on to campus and are proud of helping support SU partners with valuable marketing revenues and partnerships which their members love.
After two successful acquisitions earlier this year, native is now looking to expand further into Ireland through their acquisition of Gradguide.
Founded by CEO Mark Hughes in 2019 with the aim of becoming the #1 community for graduates seeking jobs in the tech industry. Gradguide has grown rapidly with the support of the CluneTech equity investment, with over 20,000 graduates signed up to the platform, 300+ mentors supporting graduates in their tech job aspirations and 65 partners across the tech sector.
"We are super excited for the next chapter of Gradguide under native. 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 & mentorship network in Europe.” said Mark Hughes.
“Nick and the impressive team he has built at native share the same values as ourselves in putting students first and helping them succeed as much as possible during university and now as they transition from education to employment”.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Clune, who is also chairman of Gradguide, said native was the perfect fit to move the company to the next level.
“Mark has done a tremendous job building the platform from idea to successful exit, and I’d like to extend my warm congratulations to Native and to Mark and the Gradguide team on this acquisition. I’m excited to see how they will combine forces to bring further value to the university and tech sectors in Ireland and abroad.”
Nick Musto, CEO and Founder of native said “Over the past few years we’ve seen the university experience change tremendously. Students want and deserve more from their time at university, including to depart feeling fully prepared for the future of work. 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.”
Katie Burr, Senior Marketing Manager, native
katieburr@native.fm
+447833286702
For further information you can also contact Fiona MacCarthy, Head of Communications, CluneTech.
fiona.maccarthy@clunetech.com
+353 86 8250027
