ATA Announces Strategic Investment in Recruitment Technologies SaaS Provider Brilent, Inc.
BEIJING, CHINA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/03/15 -- ATA Inc. ("ATA" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: ATAI), a leading provider of advanced testing technologies and testing-related services in China, today announced that the Company has entered into an agreement to make a strategic investment in Brilent, Inc. ("Brilent"), a provider of an easy-to-use software as a service (SaaS) that utilizes advances in machine learning, analytics and data science to revolutionize the way recruiters screen job candidates.
Brilent Transaction Highlights
- Led by a management team with experience at a number of Silicon Valley's most well-known tech firms, Brilent was founded in June 2014 and is based in Santa Clara, California.
- Brilent's advanced software allows recruiters to screen high volumes of applicants in minutes.
- The funds from ATA's strategic investment are expected to be used toward advancing Brilent's technologies, enhancing the functionality of its current product offering, and expanding its product portfolio and client base.
Benefits to ATA
With this strategic investment, ATA expects to extend the capabilities of its existing HR Select tool and its competency in exam data analytics, allowing the Company to offer its clients a deeper understanding of job candidates' exam results and improving the effectiveness of selecting the most suitable individual for the job. The Company expects to work closely with management of Brilent to introduce its offerings to and build partnerships in the China market.
Management Commentary
Mr. Peter Zhu, Brilent's CEO, said, "We believe this cooperation between Brilent and ATA will be mutually beneficial to both companies' areas of expertise and use of resources in the human resources and recruitment market. Brilent's core competency in data analytics and machine learning, as well as our focus and years of experience in the recruitment markets and larger HR process, is the perfect complement to ATA's efforts with its HR Select tool for corporate clients in China. Both Brilent and ATA strive toward the same goal -- to help job candidates find the right job for them and to help corporations find the most qualified person for the open positions they need to fill. We believe that partnering with the dedicated team at ATA will accelerate our ability to more effectively hone our data analytics capabilities for the China recruitment/HR market."
Mr. Kevin Ma, ATA's Chairman and CEO, stated, "Over the past 18 months, ATA has developed partnerships and made strategic investments, building a portfolio of up-and-coming companies in the education/recruitment industries that we believe leverage our Company's core competency in advanced testing technologies. We are thrilled to be partnering with Brilent, a company that has developed a tool that embodies the most advanced and effective technologies available today to address the current challenges facing the recruitment market. We believe this strategic investment will deepen ATA's competency in data analytics, which will allow us to bring greater value to all of our areas of business. As the Company's understanding of the HR/recruitment process grows, we believe the knowledge and experience we gain in our cooperation with Brilent will prove valuable over the long term as we continue working to accelerate the growth of our traditional testing services business. We are very excited about the prospects of this collaboration and look forward to working closely with the Brilent team."
Background on Brilent, Inc.
Based in Santa Clara, California, Brilent, Inc. provides a unique and easy-to-use SaaS offering that exploits advances in machine learning, analytics and data science to revolutionize the way recruiters screen job candidates. Brilent's advanced tool quickly identifies the best candidates while accelerating the screening process by up to 100 times. With its proprietary IP and preliminary patent filings, Brilent is able to address some of the dire needs of recruiters and possesses a significant advantage over competitors in the $120 billion talent acquisition market. For additional information, please visit www.brilent.com.
About ATA Inc.
ATA is a leading provider of advanced testing technologies in China. The Company offers comprehensive services for the creation and delivery of assessments based on its proprietary testing technologies and test delivery platform. ATA's testing technologies are used for professional licensure and certification tests in various industries, including information technology services, banking, teaching, securities, insurance, and accounting. As of June 30, 2015, ATA's test center network comprised 3,021 authorized test centers located throughout China. The Company believes that it has the largest test center network of any commercial testing service provider in China.
ATA has delivered more than 68.6 million billable tests since ATA started operations in 1999. For more information, please visit ATA's website at www.atai.net.cn.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believe," "could," "expect," "future," "look forward to," "plan," "should," "will," and similar terms. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include statements about the expected use of the proceeds invested by ATA in Brilent, the anticipated benefits to ATA's HR Select tool, exam data analytics and related services, and the ability of ATA and Brilent to cooperate effectively, and to introduce offerings and build partnerships in China. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates, and projections by both ATA and Brilent. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law. The Company cannot assure you that its expectations and assumptions will turn out to be correct, and investors are cautioned that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results.
For more information on our company, please contact the following individuals:
At the Company
ATA Inc.
Shelly Jiang
Interim CFO
+86 10 6518 1122 x5500
jiangyan@atai.net.cn
Investor Relations
The Equity Group Inc.
Carolyne Y. Sohn
Senior Associate
415-568-2255
+86 10 6587 6435
csohn@equityny.com
Adam Prior
Senior Vice President
212-836-9606
aprior@equityny.com
Source: ATA Inc.
Released September 3, 2015