Gradguide raises €2m from Clune to scale graduate mentor programme

Terry Clune and Mark Hughes

Fearghal O'Connor

March 14 2021 02:30 AM

Clune Technology Group has invested €2m into Gradguide to acquire a majority shareholding in the mentoring platform for tech graduates.

Founder Mark Hughes, a former Intercom employee, and Terry Clune told the Sunday Independent that they plan to grow Gradguide into the world’s biggest graduate recruitment network.

Clune has built Taxback.com, Transfermate and Immedis into globally trading success stories,

Gradguide pairs graduates with mentors and tech companies to help them make the transition from college into the tech industry. It is free for students and recent graduates and charges tech companies a fee.

Its network of volunteer mentors already includes professionals from the likes of LinkedIn, Google, Salesforce, Microsoft, Hubspot and Intercom, said Hughes.

“The advantage for companies is that we have fully vetted candidates ready to go rather than them having to look through and screen lots of candidates and CVs,” said Hughes.

Gradguide graduates have found roles in Oracle, Hubspot, Wayflyer, Front, Wix and others, he said. Clune first encountered it because TransferMate and Immedis used it to recruit graduates.

“Our experience has been brilliant. We are delighted to be investing in Mark and his team at Gradguide. We are keen to use the structures and resources within our group to help Gradguide grow significantly. The group has relationships with universities and human resources departments at major firms through our other businesses that can really help,” said Clune.

Hughes said he had decided to go with Clune Technology rather than seek venture capital because of its in-house development expertise and contacts that his company could now benefit from.