Clune Technology Group has acquired Gradguide, a Dublin-based career guidance and mentorship programme run virtually. CTG, formerly known as The Taxback Group, made a €2m equity investment in Gradguide as part of the acquisition.

Founded in 2020 by Mark Hughes, Ian Guerin and Matthew Brennan, Gradguide pairs mentors with students and recent graduates to help them transition successfully from college to the tech workforce. The programme is run over video conference, email and chat, and focuses on preparing people for sales and support roles in tech companies. Mentors have worked in such roles with companies that include Google and Microsoft.

The Gradguide founders said that the idea for their business came from their own experience of struggling to find mentors. “Only through mentorship did I land my own dream job post-graduation at Intercom back in 2017,” said Mark Hughes (CEO). “Gradguide was built from the anxiety I experienced first-hand upon graduation and then saw friends and family also encounter who graduated after me.

“We are already seeing a feedback loop emerge of mentees going on to become mentors and mentors becoming hiring managers building their first team through Gradguide. This community aspect is what really excites me for the future of the company.”

In Association with

Terry Clune, group CEO of Clune Technology, described Gradguide as an extremely innovative programme. “There are many synergies across Clune Group which Gradguide can avail of to help expand internationally and to build out the technology,” Clune added.

“Personally I really value the social impact of Gradguide. It’s free for both graduates and mentors, while employers pay an annual fee. Two of our group companies, TransferMate and Immedis, already use Gradguide to recruit graduates, and our experience has been brilliant.”

In addition to the platform, Gradguide also partners with growing technology companies such as Wayfler, Channelsight and Quorum to reverse engineer the recruitment process by connecting mentees with company partners, and hiring managers early on in their job search to improve their chance of securing the right type of role post-graduation.

Photo: Terry Clune (left) and Mark Hughes