inploi, a UK-based fast-growing talent attraction technology provider, has announced that it has raised $1.7 million (£1.35 million) in a seed round led by Chris Nelson, with participation from Julia Ross, Joshua Nott of Schmidt Futures, Ziyaad Aboobaker, and others. With this funding round, the company plans to develop its growth team and accelerate the go-to-market (GTM) strategy for its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering ahead of a planned expansion into the US.
Co-founded by Matt de la Hey and Alex Hanson-Smith in 2016, inploi aims to rebuild the infrastructure of online talent attraction. Its suite of SaaS products delivers candidate journey modernisation as a service, seamlessly integrating with existing HR systems to help companies attract, engage, and convert the future of their workforce, with extensive data and reporting underpinning their solutions. The platform can be used to design new recruitment campaign assets and advertising. The startup counts several high-profile enterprises amongst its customers, including Wagamama, Haven, Butlin’s, and FTSE-listed Compass Group UK & Ireland. Hong Kong HQ recently joined the A.S. Watson Group, the world’s largest international health & beauty retailer.
Commenting on the fundraising, Chief Executive Officer of inploi, Matt de le Hey, said:
We’re grateful to new and existing investors who have backed us as we switch gears from finding product-market fit to scaling. Our unique approach of augmenting and modernising existing systems rather than replacing them – in addition to the close relationships we develop with customers as an innovation partner – has yielded extraordinary results, leading to 100% of our customers renewing across multi-year agreements. Over a million candidates have already engaged with our platform this year alone, submitting 500,000 applications to 34,000 jobs, filled more quickly with significantly less client spend.
The company also emphasises its ability to cater to neuro-divergent audiences with various educational and professional backgrounds and skill sets.
Ziyaad Aboobaker, Partner of 10x Value Partners, commented:
The inploi team exhibited incredible agility in pivoting their model to providing software as a service. It is now partnered with a growing number of major blue-chip brands. inploi’s solution is perfectly positioned to address one of the biggest challenges facing companies today – attracting the people they need to operate effectively in a historically tight labour market – bringing the latest technology to an outdated market ripe for innovation. I am excited to have invested again to support their scaling journey.
The firm, described as building Shopify for hiring, seeks to become the dominant platform powering the front-end hiring journey.
Sharing about the company, Co-founder & CTPO Alex Hanson-Smith, said:
By tracking candidate activity from first contact with a brand to the point of hire, we can use actual performance data – through the talent attraction funnel – to optimise conversion and refine attraction strategies. We’re increasingly using AI to empower humans to focus on the human aspects of hiring, with machines handling the rest. We also have a deep commitment to accessibility and fairness: nobody should be barred from opportunities by inaccessible recruitment processes. Working with our partner accessible, our careers hubs and applicant experiences are completely customisable by those with neuro divergency or different abilities, helping to broaden access to a more diverse pool of applicants.
