Clarendon-based EdTech Symplicity Acquires Job Skilling Platform Orbis

Symplicity, a Clarendon-based EdTech company that offers student employability and engagement software solutions, announced the acquisition of Orbis, a technology platform that connects college students with job and training opportunities.

With this acquisition, Symplicity plans to expand its market share of universities and operations in the country and offers a more expansive employer network to Canadian universities.

The acquisition will also significantly expand Symplicity’s global network of 6 million early talent candidates and 500,000 active employers. Symplicity facilitated more than 450,000 internship placements and processed 10 million job applications in the last 12 months.

Symplicity provides smart platforms to more than 2,000 colleges and universities for managing all aspects of student life, including career services, student conduct, and accommodations. In the last five years, the company has simplified and improved the quality of these solutions and boosted sales to and renewal rates with universities.

The company partners with institutions and employers to fuse student employability and engagement strategies with its technology platform for higher education students, career centres and university departments.

Speaking about the acquisition, President and CEO of Symplicity, Matthew Small said in a statement, “If there is anything the post-pandemic world of work has shown, it is that it’s not just about jobs—there are endless job boards out there for students. It’s about preparing students for careers through meaningful experiences with work projects and skill development pathways based on the real needs of employers. This acquisition will further enhance the combined company’s rapid growth, by significantly expanding our experiential learning capabilities globally so that we can help address the skill shortage at scale.”

Small further added, “It’s a wonderful opportunity. Together, we have most of the universities in Canada. We’ve grown really fast, and we’ve had great success.”

Hamilton headquarters Orbis is on a mission to empower people with the information, technology and opportunities they need to live a future of fulfilled potential. For more than twenty years, the company has supported leading universities and colleges, with data-driven experiential learning solutions and strategies that empower every graduate on their unique post-secondary journey, critical to their long-term livelihood.

Cameron Ballantyne, Founding Partner of Orbis, added, “By joining Symplicity, we are aligning with an organization that shares our values and our goals. We look forward to continuing to provide the solutions that bind industry, post-secondary institutions, government and students in a way that meets them where they are today with what they need for tomorrow.”

Orbis has an active network of more than 100 institutions, 350,000 employers and 1 million students. Its platform connects post-secondary institutions, companies and candidates, bringing opportunities and students together, as well as facilitating the management of experiential learning programs.

This is Symplicity’s third international acquisition in five years. In 2018, the company had acquired Brazil-based Contratanet, the country’s largest network of job portals for students. Prior to that, it had acquired Australia-based CareerHub, an online career services platform in 2017.

About the Author

Author: Shalini Pathak

Shalini Pathak is a Staff Writer at EdTechReview (ETR) – India’s leading edtech media & community. She has over four years of experience in media, covering different beats. Like all writers she’s an enthusiastic reader first with a passion to create out of the box content, and an ability to write about any topic. As a part of the ETR team, she will cover the latest in the edtech industry with a focus on edtech startup stories and their funding.

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