Founders Capital Network Advises Plum on Acquisition by Phenom
Founders Capital Network Advises Plum on Acquisition by Phenom
Founders Capital Network (FCN), a Greater Philadelphia-based business sale advisory firm dedicated to helping entrepreneur-owned companies achieve the best possible exit, is proud to announce its role as sell-side advisor to Plum in its sale to Phenom, which applies AI infrastructure to empower human resources. The transaction, announced April 28, 2026, marks a significant milestone for Plum – a company that spent over a decade building psychometric science that resumes can't replicate and AI can't manufacture.
A Strategic Exit Built on Science and Vision
Plum was founded on the belief that every person has untapped potential, and that organizations deserve the science to find it. Its proprietary Role Model™ technology maps behavioral blueprints against more than 40,000 real-world jobs, delivering candidate performance predictions with accuracy four times greater than traditional resume screening alone. These are the kinds of durable human skills - empathy, sound judgment, adaptability, resilience - that never show up on a resume and can't be faked in an interview.
For Founders Capital Network, advising Plum was a natural fit. "Selling a business is more than a financial transaction – it is the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and vision," said Michelle Parisi, Co-Founder and Director of Strategy & Client Growth at Founders Capital Network. "Plum is exactly the kind of company we are proud to go to bat for. Caitlin MacGregor and her team built something genuinely differentiated, and our job was to make sure that value was recognized in the deal they deserved." Learn more about who we are and what drives us.
Why the Deal Matters
The acquisition by Phenom comes at an inflection point for enterprise hiring. By 2028, Gartner estimates that one in four job candidate profiles worldwide will be fake. At the same time, the cost of a bad hire averages at least 30% of an employee's first-year salary. Plum's science directly addresses both challenges – and now, as part of Phenom's agentic platform, that science scales to enterprises around the world.
Tony Parisi, Senior Advisor at FCN, remarked: "What makes advising entrepreneurs in the sale of their companies so rewarding is the people behind the companies we serve. Caitlin and the Plum team are deeply mission-driven, genuinely differentiated and deserving of a deal that provides the best result and future opportunities possible. That's why we do this."
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About Plum
Plum is a pioneer in psychometric-based talent assessments, built on the belief that every person has untapped potential and that organizations deserve the science to find it. Plum's proprietary Role Model™ technology maps behavioral blueprints against more than 40,000 real-world jobs, validating the durable human skills that determine whether someone will truly thrive in a role. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, Plum serves enterprise hiring teams across North America.
About Phenom
Phenom is an applied AI company with the only AI infrastructure built specifically for HR. Powered by engines that harmonize data, ontologies that guide every decision, and agents that work alongside teams, Phenom's platform automates workflows, eliminates busywork, and enhances every hiring and talent development experience at enterprise scale. Headquartered in Greater Philadelphia, Phenom also has offices in India, Israel, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
About Founders Capital Network
Founders Capital Network (FCN) helps small business owners navigate the complex process of selling their companies — maximizing value, negotiating the best terms, and achieving a successful transition. FCN serves entrepreneur-owned companies across multiple sectors, advocating for business owners with expert guidance and a strategic, competitive approach to securing the best possible deal.
