A Newcastle tech start-up launched in lockdown has raised £1m in seed funding to drive its reach across the 海角视频.
Tech recruitment specialist Haystack, based in Gosforth, is toasting a rapid rise since going live towards the end of last year, using advanced matching technology to help more companies and tech workers to hire smartly and find their ideal roles.
The firm – founded by Mike Davies, Chris Bone and Rob Simmons – has already trebled its headcount to 16, with the potential for more job creation on the back of funding from a leading tech entrepreneur and the Government’s Future Fund.
More importantly, Haystack will now be able to expand its territory reach to help tech scenes around the 海角视频, matching skilled “techies” with companies.
Mr Davies, co-founder and COO, said: “This is a really exciting time for Haystack. This funding will allow us to continue the incredible growth we’ve seen since we officially launched in November 2020.
“The idea was actually conceived around 18 months ago. I left university with a degree in computer science but didn’t know the landscape so did the milk rounds, in which you’re introduced to the bigger firms in the North East. But I wanted to get in at ground zero with a quirky start-up, and that was really hard to find.
“It was when I joined a firm and was told that it’s really hard to find people for tech companies that my cogs started up.
“Recruitment agents can charge whatever they want and techies were being commodotized - if you put a price on people’s heads all people see is cheques - so the process was a little bit broken, and that’s why Haystack was conceived.”
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Teaming up with Mr Bone and Mr Simmons, the resulting firm Haystack provides a platform for people to make informed decisions on their tech careers, with the careers and insights marketplace focusing on providing opportunities for those in data, design and engineering.
The company’s algorithm matches roles with users based on a variety of touch points, to ensure employers aren’t provided with unsuitable candidates, and users aren’t shown unsuitable opportunities.
Haystack allows businesses to more efficiently hire for their tech teams by eliminating the need for, often expensive, tech recruiters and saving on resources internally.
The idea behind Haystack attracted entrepreneur Dan Smyth, former managing director of Bede Gaming, now lead investor.
It is also now attracting interest from across the 海角视频, and is working in partnership with industry-leading companies including Sage, Hive and Bottlepay.
Mr Smyth lead investor, said: “Hiring technical rockstars is incredibly tough and often they’re not active on the job market. Haystack allows them to anonymously search, uncover and gain insight to their tech landscape.
“Half the users are just curious and not looking for a job and these are the techies that traditional recruitment methods will never find. This the most attractive area for me as an investor, creating a platform to help passionate techies find the most interesting work possible. It’s the foundation for any great software business.
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“The founding team at Haystack is that hard-to-find mix of technical, digital and real world expertise with vision to disrupt a large industry, where the technologist is the star of the show.
“Investing was a simple decision. It’s highly scalable, highly relevant and solves real world problems for all users.”
Part of the investment comes from the Government’s Future Fund, launched to support pre-revenue, pre-profit innovative businesses with loans of between £125,000 and £5m, following concerns that investors were reluctant to provide support due to the pandemic. Latest figures from the Government show that the North East received £25m in funding.
Co-founder and CEO, Chris Bone said: “We’ve been delighted with the success we’ve had so far. What has been absolutely clear from speaking to the tech community is the real appetite for a different and disruptive approach to tech talent attraction.
"To have already secured partnerships including Accenture, Sage and Bottlepay, gives me great confidence that our product scales across the U.K. and beyond.”