Kira Talent

Kira Talent is a Canadian start-up company. The company operates a cloud-based holistic admissions assessment platform designed for use by academic admissions departments to assess and enroll students. Organizations are able to create a customized assessment and record video questions, receive candidate responses, and evaluate the responses virtually within the platform.[1][2] Presently, Kira Talent’s office is located in Toronto and the CEO is Emilie Cushman.[3]

Kira Talent
Industrysoftware
Founded2012
FounderEmilie Cushman
Konrad Listwan
HeadquartersCanada
Websitewww.kiratalent.com Edit this on Wikidata

History

Kira Talent was founded in 2012 by Emilie Cushman and Konrad Listwan[4] It was named the Most Outstanding Venture among the Next 36 (Canada’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative) participants of 2012.[5][6] The Next 36 Program provided seed capital and mentorship.

Kira Talent's founder and CEO, Emilie Cushman, was named to the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 for Education.[7]

Product

Kira Talent’s cloud-based applicant assessment platform was introduced as an alternative to in-person and phone interviews. The interviewer records their questions over video and sends them over to candidates with an established deadline. After viewing each question, an interviewee has an allotted amount of time to think over the query, after which the webcam turns on and another specified time frame is given for a response. Questions can invite timed written or timed video responses. After applicants have responded the reviewers can log-in to see, rank, share, and compare the results.[8][9]

In 2017, Kira introduced the ability to upload documents like resumes and written essays [10] as well as a number of admissions-specific review tools like rubrics and analytics.[11]

In 2019, Kira Talent partnered with Turnitin to offer a plagiarism checker for college admissions.[12]

The platform is GDPR and WCAG 2.0 AA compliant.[13][14]

Publications & Speaking

Kira Talent maintains a higher education blog and online newsletter, The Admissions Roundup, on higher education admissions and recruitment.[15]

Notable publication releases include Breaking Down Bias in Admissions [16] Demystifying Holistic Admissions: The Comprehensive Guide to Holistic Review [17] and The Future of Admissions Assessment.[18]

In 2018, Kira's team spoke on admissions and enrollment at the Ontario University Registrars' Association (OURA) Conference,[19] the Graduate Management Admissions Council Annual Meeting,[20] as well as the Council of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting.[21] Kira Talent representatives also participated in a holistic admissions workshop at James Madison University.[22]

Financing

In October 2012, Kira Talent closed a seed capital investment round led by Relay Ventures[9] and supported by 18 investors, including entrepreneur Tony Lacavera,[23][24][25] business strategist Roger Martin[26] and financier David Shaw.[27]

In August 2016, Kira Talent raised a $5 million Series A.[28]

Schools using Kira Talent

Schools using Kira Talent include:

References
  1. Bolkan, Joshua (July 7, 2015). "Kira Talent Launches New Recruitment Tool" 'Campus Technology.' Archived 2017-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Tossell, Ivor (April 22, 2013). "Kira Talent's video platform simplifies the search for high-caliber candidates" Archived 2014-11-01 at the Wayback Machine The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 2nd, 2012.
  3. ""The future of education requires smarter admissions decisions using AI" 'BetaKit'". Archived from the original on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  4. "How Kira Talent went from a classroom to a fast growing venture" Archived 2016-05-14 at the Wayback Machine. Financial Post, Armina Ligaya | November 25, 2013
  5. Farr, J.M.(March 28, 2013)."Toronto's Kira Talent and Unhaggle StartMeUp Ryersons Slaight Communications Business Plan Competition Winners" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine The Star Archived 2019-07-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  6. " Konrad Listwan-Ciesielski: There’s no hiding in this university admissions test" Archived 2017-02-16 at the Wayback Machine. PAUL ATTFIELD, The Globe and Mail, Sep. 02, 2014
  7. "30 Under 30 Education" Archived 2023-04-04 at the Wayback Machine. Forbes, 2018
  8. "Toronto's Kira Talent and Unhaggle StartMeUp Ryersons Slaight Communications Business Plan Competition Winners" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star, J.M. Farr. April 3, 2013
  9. "How HR startups are bringing hiring into the 21st century" Archived 2017-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. Financial Post, Anwar Ali | July 21, 2015
  10. Archived 2023-06-01 at the Wayback Machine "Document Review, Question Sequences, and Overall Communication Scores: What’s New in Kira!"]. Kira Talent Blog 'Emilie Cushman, July 7, 2017'
  11. Archived 2023-06-01 at the Wayback Machine "Rubrics, Results, and Reviewer Analytics: What’s New in Kira! "]. Kira Talent Blog 'Emilie Cushman, May 17, 2017'
  12. Archived 2023-06-11 at the Wayback Machine "Turnitin Partnership Adds Plagiarism Checking to College Admissions"]. Campus Technology, Rhea Kelly. June 26, 2019
  13. McCracken, Molly (2020-07-08). "The importance of accessibility and inclusion in your admissions process". Kira Talent Admissions Resources. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  14. Charbonneau, Brent (2018-05-23). "Data Protection, Your Privacy, and Kira Talent". Kira Talent Admissions Resources. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  15. "Sign up for the Admissions Roundup" Archived 2023-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. Kira Talent
  16. "Breaking Down Bias in Admissions" Archived 2021-12-13 at the Wayback Machine,
  17. ""Demystifying Holistic Admissions"". Archived from the original on 2021-09-19. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  18. "The Future of Admissions Assessment | Kira Talent". start.kiratalent.com. Archived from the original on 2023-07-15. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  19. Archived 2023-06-05 at the Wayback Machine"OURA Conference"
  20. http://www.cvent.com/events/annual-conference-2018/event-summary-5cbcb8c199874870897bee28fa4a7533.aspx Archived 2021-09-16 at the Wayback Machine "GMAC Annual Meeting 2018"
  21. Archived 2021-09-21 at the Wayback Machine "CGS Annual Meeting 2018 Website"
  22. Archived 2023-04-04 at the Wayback MachineChoosing the best candidates for admission to graduate school at James Madison University Alyse Lehrke, October 30, 2018.
  23. "Startups With C$100 Million Canada Tech Fund" Archived 2017-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. Bloomberg Business, January 21, 2016 Gerrit De Vynck
  24. "Five things you should know before you start your workday on Jan. 22" Archived 2016-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. Financial Post, Sharon Lindores | January 22, 2016.
  25. "Wind Mobile founder Tony Lacavera returns to tech investing with $100M venture capital fund" Archived 2016-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Financial Post, Gerrit De Vynck, Bloomberg News | January 21, 2016
  26. "How the former dean of the Rotman School is investing his money" Archived 2017-04-25 at the Wayback Machine. BRENDA BOUW, The Globe and Mail, Feb. 07, 2016
  27. Liu, Ted (November 30, 2012)."Kira Talent secures seed financing from Relay Ventures and angel investors" Archived 2013-03-16 at the Wayback Machine Canadian Private Equity. Archived 2013-07-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved July 2nd, 2013.
  28. "Kira Talent Raises $5 Million Series A To Develop a Talent Assessment Platform" Archived 2017-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. 'BetaKit', August 10, 2016
  29. Da Silva, Niki (September 15, 2015). "Video in MBA Admissions: A Case Study from the Rotman School of Management" 'The Newsletter of the Graduate Management Admission Council.' Archived 2017-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  30. McCracken, Molly (September 11, 2017) "How Foster’s MBA Program Uses Kira to Select the Best-Fit Applicants" Archived 2017-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  31. Lemley, Nikki (October 20, 2015). "Using Video in Specialized Master’s Program Admissions: A Case Study from Washington University’s Olin Business School" 'The Newsletter of the Graduate Management Admission Council.' Archived 2017-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  32. Kira Talent "Kira Talent - Customers" Archived 2017-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  33. "Beat the GMAT (September 26, 2014)". Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  34. McCracken, Molly (2019-08-07). "Ask the CIO: Inspiring & Leading EdTech Innovation at Saïd School of Business". Kira Talent Admissions Resources. Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  35. Byrne, Kara (2020-06-30). "Building a dynamic MBA cohort amidst a global pandemic". Kira Talent Admissions Resources. Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
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