Egypt’s online recruitment platform Wuzzuf announced on Thursday its acquisition of job assessment platform Viriphi for an undisclosed amount, marking a rare deal in a region where mergers and acquisitions among startups is fairly uncommon.

With this acquisition, services provided by both companies will be merged, said Amr ElGabry, founder and CEO of Viriphi.

“This acquisition is a part of a larger plan to launch new products for enhancing the recruitment experience for job seekers and job owners in the region. Our aim is to contribute to one million hires by 2020,” said Ameer Sherif, cofounder and CEO of Wuzzuf’s parent company, Basharsoft. Merging with Viriphi would allow Wuzzuf to continue innovating and providing better services, he added.

In a country facing rising economic challenges, thousands of university students graduating annually in Egypt are finding immense difficulty getting employed.

On the other side of the equation, job owners face challenges when choosing the right person for each job due to lagging resumes. Between thousands of applicants, it is hard to choose the person most suitable for the job.

“The company established an assessment tool called Viriphi Assessment to help job owners hire skills effectively,” said ElGabry.

This assessment measures the main skills job owners are looking for in new hires, such as knowledge of the English language, problem solving, analytical skills and communication skills. In turn, job seekers take the assessment and are hired according to how well their skills matched those desires by the employer.

“[This merger with Wuzzuf] will change the nature of hiring in Egypt. Employers will now be more efficient in hiring the right people for the job, and qualified job seekers will now be found thanks to the Viriphi assessment,” ElGabry said.

Last month, the company launched the Wuzzuf Talent Discovery Program, a platform that asked job seekers to undergo the Viriphi assessment. Based on their performance, they got badges indicating their strengths, allowing employers to more easily identify their talents.

Earlier this year, Wuzzuf also launched the platform Forasna for hiring skilled job seekers and organized an event titled Startup Talent Matchmaking during Rise Up Egypt 2016.

Basharsoft closed a Series A funding round for $1.7 million at the end of 2015, led by Vostok New Ventures and UK-based Piton Capital.  

Feature image via Bpir.com