Recruitroo, a Dublin-based HR tech company, aims to raise €2.5 million in its next funding round, which it expects to close later this year.
The company, which also has an office in Cork city, was founded by Shane Kiernan and Stephen MacCarthy in 2022.
The core focus of the business, which has 12 staff and has raised €1 million to date, is helping its clients hire and manage staff from outside of the European Union.
“We basically built a software platform to make it easier for companies and candidates to connect around the world. That allows them to go through a recruitment process on the platform, covering technical assessments, interviews and contract offers,” MacCarthy said.
“In the process of that, we collect a huge amount of data on the candidate and the company. We then collect the last bits necessary to process what is needed for their immigration requirements.”
MacCarthy first developed the idea while in the Ignite centre in UCC. He was working on an interview simulator for students and then repurposed the platform to help founders assess talent abroad.
In the process of that, he met Kiernan who had several colleagues in the construction sector that were struggling to staff their sites. That led to the duo coming together to repurpose the software again to develop Recruitroo.
“In the process of doing the assessment and recruitment side of the platform, we found that doing the visa processing was one of the big pain points that needed addressing,” MacCarthy said.
Kiernan had been through the visa process on a personal level, sorting out his partner’s visa during the pandemic. He found the cost involved was onerous and felt there had to be an easier approach.
“There’s been a huge growth across Ireland and the UK in demand for these workers. With Stephen, I felt we could find a way to create an offering that provided a compelling price point to customers,” he said. “We’re really growing fast. In first quarter of this year alone, we did as much as the entirety of last year.”
The business recently made its first hire in the UK and is being supported by Enterprise Ireland as it seeks to expand.
“They have provided support to help us map what types of clients are good for us in a territory. On top of that, there are grants to provide further development including to our website,” Kiernan said.
The funding round targeted for later this year is aimed at helping the business expand rapidly as it is forecasting substantial demand for its services.
“The UK is going to be a huge market for us. This year is about doubling down on Ireland and taking what we’ve built here and growing in the UK. Our projection for this year is €1 million in revenue, then €4 million next year and €10 million the year after that,” Kiernan said.
“The funding is a stepping stone for us to expand our presence in other jurisdictions because there’s a lot of demand out there.”
This Making it Work article is produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland