A disruptive careers app founded by a Forbes 30 under 30 tech entrepreneur and backed by the likes of Indeed’s CEO has attracted £5.1m from former Dragon James Caan.
Debut, which uses ‘revolutionary smart data’ technology to connect candidates with employers, has been described by industry experts as the most intelligent careers platform to date.
The London-based start-up was launched two years ago by recent graduate Charlie Taylor and has already been used by the likes of HSBC, Barclays, EY and Microsoft.
It boasts more than 120,000 prospective candidates and financial backing from venture capital funds like LocalGlobe and angel investors including Indeed co-founder and CEO Paul Forster. It raised £1.7m in January 2017.
Debut works by inviting users to complete a short profile followed by a set of psychometric and personality tests, with the data then used to match candidates with potential employers or vacancies.
The app’s smart data technology begins immediately after registration, and candidates start to receive precision-targeted push notifications called ‘Talent Spots’ straight to their smartphone.
Caan said: “The recruitment industry needs innovation to survive, and Debut entered the market at the right time – smartphone penetration was already well-established, but what made the opportunity so perfect for now, was the cost-effective access to unlimited or large amounts of mobile data, meaning the mobile-only movement was just starting to gain traction.
“Debut embraces this audience and helps employers to do the same.
“Debut’s global ambitions are fantastic and full of new opportunities – the US has already seen mobile-only users overtake desktop-users, making it an obvious next stop, with the changing times ahead, Debut is not one to watch – it’s one to download.”
Co-founder Charlie Taylor said the investment will allow the start-up to expand out of early careers and impact the broader jobs market.
“I hope that eventually our system will become so incredibly powerful that it will play a part in shaping the national skills agenda to promote improved supply and demand – first here in the UK, and then on a global scale,” he said.
He added: “Already, in just 2.5 years, Debut has collated and analysed more data than any traditional job board would be able to capture in 10 years.
“The fact that we have started at the entry level, and have such a high level of user adoption and data, we are in a stronger position than any other platform to take on the global recruitment market and stay with candidates at each stage of their entire careers.”