Annrai O’Toole’s Utmost acquired by US-based Beeline

Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed

Utmost cofounders Dan Beck, Annrai O’Toole and Paddy Benson
Utmost cofounders Dan Beck, Annrai O’Toole and Paddy Benson

Utmost, the company that was cofounded by Irish tech veteran Annrai O’Toole, has been acquired by US based Beeline for an undisclosed sum.

The Irish company, which has offices in Dublin and San Francisco, helps businesses to manage individuals who work for but are not directly employed by companies, including contractors, freelancers, vendors and consultants. Founded in 2018, Utmost’s technology allows customers to view, in real time, both employee and non-employee workforces by location and reporting structure, helping them to manage and optimise their total workforce.

“Beeline shares our vision of using technology to bring extended workforce management to every level of the organisation and value to every stakeholder of the contingent workforce ecosystem,” said Utmost CEO and co-founder Annrai O’Toole. “Beeline’s innovation is not only centred on current workforce challenges but is driving the optimisation of tomorrow’s workforce.”

Mr O’Toole previously cofounded both Iona Technologies and Cape Clear Software. The latter company was acquired by Workday in 2008, and Mr O’Toole ran the Irish operation in subsequent years. The other co-founders of Utmost are former Workday executive Dan Beck and former Groupon chief technology officer Paddy Benson.

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The acquisition by Beeline will give clients of the Florida company access to talent insights across their entire workforce. It will also open up management of extended workforces to smaller and mid-size companies.

“The future of work is powered by technology that unlocks the potential of every worker, regardless of classification,” said Doug Leeby, Beeline chief executive. “We have a disciplined history of only acquiring companies that are rightful technology leaders that will deliver further value to our customers. The Utmost acquisition is particularly exciting in that it complements and accelerates our strategic roadmap and delivers clever and unique solutions to our customers on day one.”

This is the latest acquisition by Beeline, which acquired JoinedUp last year to help companies capture and manage shift-based, high-volume labour.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist