Helsinki-born digital job search and recruitment services Duunitori is acquired by Intera Partners, private equity firm based in Finland. The platform modernizes job search and recruitment processes with the use of Internet technologies and social media. Having Intera as a main owner will help the company enhance its services and expand globally to make recruiting in a smarter way. Duunitori’s founders Thomas Grönholm and Martti Kuusanmäki will continue in their leadership roles and as significant shareholders.
Intera invests in Duunitori, a job search and recruitment services forerunner
Intera invests in Duunitori, a Finnish digital job search and recruitment services provider. As a result of the agreement, Intera will become a partner to the Finnish market leader and innovator that helps match job seekers and recruiters. Duunitori has seen substantial growth over the past years and has also expanded its operations to Sweden. The partnership aims to further strengthen Duunitori’s growth and accelerate its internationalisation.
Duunitori is the largest job board and recruitment services provider in Finland with a mission to help match job seekers and recruiters. In addition to its highly popular job board, the company offers recruiters a wide variety of services from recruitment marketing to employer brand strategy development. In 2021, Duunitori became the Finnish market leader in job search services and started commercial operations in Sweden under the name Jobbland. In the last five years, Duunitori’s turnover has seen average annual growth of 70 percent with a turnover of €14 million in 2021.
Intera Partners is excited to join forces with a company that has a strong track-record in revolutionising the recruitment industry. As a result of the agreement, Intera will become a majority owner in Duunitori and form a close partnership with the company to support growth and internationalisation.
“Duunitori is in a key position to push the whole recruitment industry forward. The company combines strong experience in digital recruitment marketing with a corporate culture that encourages innovation. Duunitori has quickly become the market leader in Finland. We are very excited about the partnership and look forward to continuing the growth story also beyond Finland”, states Essi Hasu, partner at Intera.
Duunitori was founded in 2009 by Thomas Grönholm and Martti Kuusanmäki. Currently the company has around 90 employees. The partnership will create a stronger foundation for Duunitori to develop its services and address customer needs also outside of Finland and Sweden.
“Our team has done excellent work in modernising job search and recruitment. We want to make recruitment smarter in Finland and abroad, and now we can create this change together with Intera. After careful consideration we decided to partner with Intera, a responsible and reliable investor that has been an accelerator of growth and internationalisation for several successful companies”, says Thomas Grönholm, CEO and founder of Duunitori.
Following the transaction, Grönholm and Kuusanmäki will continue in their leadership roles and as significant shareholders in Duunitori. Additionally, employee ownership in the company will be further expanded.
Gorilla Fund I starts generating carried interest following Duunitori exit
Gorilla Fund I invested in Duunitori, then named Skyhood, in 2015. At the time, the company consisted of 5 people and revenue was in the low six figures – since then, it has doubled and redoubled time and again, reaching 14 million euros in 2021.
As a result of this highly successful exit, Gorilla Fund I has already returned 2x the original capital, cash on cash, and there are many good companies remaining in the portfolio. Duunitori also became the largest exit among numerous positive ones in Gorilla Capital‘s operating history, measured by the company’s exit value. It yielded a substantial return of 70x the initial investment.
”Duunitori is a perfect example of the often overlooked type of a startup – the “camel” (which we love) that focuses on building sustainable business rather than raising maximum amounts of capital to make risky bets. We are very proud of having been part of the Duunitori journey for 7 years. Their success is no coincidence”, says Risto Rautakorpi, Managing Partner at Gorilla Capital.
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