Fuse Cooperative, a Colorado-based cooperative recruitment network owned and operated by staffing firm and independent recruiter members, acquired Gustav VMS.

The combination of Fuse and Gustav has a particular focus on providing H-1B workers. The deal will allow Fuse members to more effectively share jobs and candidates, according to the company.

It enables prime vendors access to the estimated 400,000 H-1Bs sponsored by smaller staffing vendors. Fuse validates candidate ID, work history and visa plus the name of the sponsoring company.

“The staffing industry is riddled with redundancy, as many firms duplicate efforts on the same jobs,” says Edwin Jansen, chief steward and CEO of Fuse Cooperative. “Fuse facilitates tighter partnerships, and our vetting of H-1Bs provides a level of trust that’s missing today.”

Fuse formally launched at the start of this year to form a sub-vendor marketplace of smaller staffing firms to serve prime vendor staffing providers.

Fuse’s verified H-1B program verifies the compliance of H-1B sponsor firms and the authenticity of their candidates. Prime staffing vendors then get a shortlist of candidates, and Fuse provides services from onboarding and time sheets to consolidated billing and payments.

Fuse also checks for fraud in H-1B. Candidates can get a digital wallet of verification.

To join Fuse, a staffing firm or independent recruiter must sign its cooperative membership and network agreement, which the company said ensures partnering with mutual benefit, accountability and fair dispute resolution.

The deal to acquire Gustav was struck at the start of the year. Gustav was launched in 2017 out of Y Combinator in California by Jan Jedlinski, Benjamin Bartakovics, Michael Ströck and Daniel Bartakovics.