Connectifier
Corporate brand
UnclaimedAn American talent-search company that used machine learning to help recruiters identify and match candidates.
Last updated August 31, 2026
Overview
Connectifier was an American recruiting-technology company founded in 2011 by John Jersin and Benjamin McCann. Its core proposition was to apply machine learning and large-scale search techniques to the difficult task of finding prospective employees. Rather than relying solely on conventional job-board searches or manually maintained professional profiles, the company developed technology intended to identify, organize, and rank relevant talent for recruiters and hiring managers. The company emerged during a period when recruiting organizations were increasingly using software to search across large quantities of professional and publicly available information. Connectifier positioned its technology as an efficiency tool for sourcing: it helped users discover candidates, match people to roles, and broaden the pool of individuals considered during a hiring process. Its customers included recruiting organizations and corporate talent-acquisition teams. By 2016, the company was reported to serve more than 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies, illustrating the enterprise focus of its business. Connectifier participated in the fourth class of Launchpad LA in 2013. It subsequently raised $6 million in Series A financing announced in June 2015 and another $6 million in Series B financing in October 2015. Across three rounds, the company had raised approximately $12 million by the time LinkedIn acquired it. Contemporary reports described rapid commercial growth, including an annual recurring-revenue run rate of $10 million approximately 18 months after launch and year-over-year growth approaching 500 percent. Such figures were reported in the context of the company’s expansion and should be understood as historical operating metrics rather than current financial information. Connectifier attracted attention from LinkedIn because its machine-learning capabilities complemented LinkedIn’s large professional network and existing recruiting products. LinkedIn announced a definitive agreement to acquire the company on February 4, 2016. At the time of the transaction, Connectifier reportedly had about 50 employees and an artificial-intelligence talent base that included people with backgrounds at organizations such as Google, Amazon, Stanford, Microsoft Research, NASA, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, and Berkeley National Lab. Following the acquisition, Connectifier operated as a wholly owned LinkedIn subsidiary rather than as an independent consumer-facing brand. Its technology and features were incorporated into LinkedIn Recruiter and Microsoft Bing. This integration reflected a broader strategy of embedding specialized search and matching capabilities inside larger platforms instead of maintaining a separate standalone product. The Connectifier standalone offering was discontinued on April 30, 2020. The company is therefore best understood as a defunct independent brand whose technology was absorbed into LinkedIn and related Microsoft services.
History
Connectifier was established in 2011 by John Jersin and Benjamin McCann as a company focused on applying machine learning to recruiting and talent discovery. Its technology addressed a persistent problem in professional hiring: recruiters often needed to identify qualified people who were not actively applying for a particular role, while conventional databases and keyword searches could produce incomplete or poorly ranked results. Connectifier developed search and matching capabilities intended to help recruiters and hiring managers locate relevant candidates more quickly and at greater scale. The company entered the Los Angeles startup ecosystem through Launchpad LA, participating in the accelerator’s fourth class in 2013. It then moved into a financing and commercial-expansion phase. Connectifier announced $6 million in Series A financing on June 16, 2015, followed by an additional $6 million Series B round in October of the same year. Including an earlier round, the company had raised approximately $12 million across three rounds by the time of its acquisition. These financings supported the development and commercialization of its recruiting search technology. By 2015, reports described Connectifier as growing rapidly. The company was said to have reached an annual recurring-revenue run rate of $10 million roughly 18 months after launch and to have grown at close to 500 percent annually. It was also reported to have tens of thousands of recruiter customers and, in some comparisons, to deliver two to four times as many candidates as LinkedIn. By 2016, its customer base reportedly included more than 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies. These accounts placed Connectifier among the emerging recruiting-software companies using data processing and machine learning to compete for enterprise talent-acquisition budgets. LinkedIn announced on February 4, 2016, that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Connectifier. The transaction gave LinkedIn access to a specialized team and technology that could complement its professional network, recruiter products, and search infrastructure. At the time, Connectifier had approximately 50 employees. Its artificial-intelligence personnel reportedly included individuals with experience at major technology companies, universities, research institutions, and government laboratories, including Google, Amazon, Stanford, Microsoft Research, NASA, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, and Berkeley National Lab. After the acquisition, Connectifier continued as a wholly owned LinkedIn subsidiary for several years. The company’s capabilities were not maintained indefinitely as a separate independent product. Instead, LinkedIn integrated Connectifier technology and features into LinkedIn Recruiter and Microsoft Bing. This transition reduced the visibility of the Connectifier name while extending elements of its search and matching technology through larger Microsoft-owned services. The standalone product was sunset on April 30, 2020. Connectifier’s history consequently follows the pattern of a venture-backed specialist platform whose principal assets were its machine-learning technology and technical team, later absorbed into a major professional-network and software ecosystem.
- 2020
Standalone offering discontinued
[1]The independent Connectifier product was sunset after its technology had been integrated into LinkedIn Recruiter and Microsoft Bing.
- 2016
LinkedIn acquisition announced
[1]LinkedIn announced a definitive agreement to acquire Connectifier.
- 2015
Series A financing
[1]The company announced $6 million in Series A financing in June.
- 2015
Series B financing
[1]Connectifier raised an additional $6 million in October, bringing reported total funding to approximately $12 million across three rounds.
- 2013
Participation in Launchpad LA
[1]Connectifier participated in the fourth class of Launchpad LA.
- 2011
Connectifier is founded
[1]John Jersin and Benjamin McCann founded Connectifier to develop machine-learning search and matching technology for recruiting.
Products and positioning
A data-driven recruiting technology platform focused on using machine learning to help employers discover and match talent more efficiently than traditional manual sourcing methods.
Recruiting software
Connectifier talent-search platform
Connectifier’s principal offering used machine-learning-based search and matching to help recruiters and hiring managers identify potential candidates. The platform was designed for talent discovery and sourcing, with an emphasis on finding relevant people at scale rather than limiting searches to applicants who had already expressed interest in a role. Its capabilities were later incorporated into LinkedIn Recruiter and Microsoft Bing.
Brand decisions
2020
Sunset the standalone Connectifier productStrategyBackground
Following integration into LinkedIn and Microsoft products, maintaining a separate Connectifier offering was no longer the company’s operating direction.
Action taken
The standalone Connectifier product was discontinued on April 30, 2020.
Aftermath
The Connectifier brand ceased operating as an independent product, while elements of its technology remained available through LinkedIn Recruiter and Microsoft Bing.
2016
Join LinkedIn to extend machine-learning recruiting capabilitiesM&ABackground
Connectifier had developed machine-learning search and matching technology for recruiters and had built a substantial enterprise customer base. LinkedIn sought to add those capabilities to its professional-network and recruiting ecosystem.
Action taken
LinkedIn announced a definitive agreement to acquire Connectifier on February 4, 2016. Connectifier subsequently operated as a wholly owned LinkedIn subsidiary.
Aftermath
Connectifier technology and features were integrated into LinkedIn Recruiter and Microsoft Bing rather than continuing indefinitely as a separate standalone product.
Recent events
- 2020
Connectifier standalone product is sunset[1]
Other
The standalone Connectifier offering was discontinued after its technology had been integrated into LinkedIn Recruiter and Microsoft Bing.
- 2016
LinkedIn agrees to acquire Connectifier[1]
M&A
LinkedIn announced a definitive agreement to acquire Connectifier and its machine-learning search and matching technology.
- 2015
Connectifier announces $6 million Series A financing[1]
Other
The company announced a $6 million Series A round as it expanded its machine-learning recruiting platform.
- 2015
Connectifier raises an additional $6 million in Series B financing[1]
Other
Connectifier raised a further $6 million in Series B financing, bringing reported cumulative funding to approximately $12 million across three rounds.
- 2013
Connectifier participates in Launchpad LA Class 4[1]
Other
Connectifier joined the fourth class of Launchpad LA, an accelerator program associated with the Los Angeles startup ecosystem.
Sources1 sources
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