• Teamed

  Led · Seed · Dec 2022

  Teamed is a London-based startup offering a global hiring solution that makes it easy for businesses to hire, pay and take care of a remote workforce. The company stands up and manages HR, compliance, payroll and tax through its own legal entities and global infrastructure, combining automation and human expertise. Its fully distributed team helps businesses hire top talent across 75+ countries, and the product emphasizes 100% compliance and rapid onboarding within hours. Since being founded in 2020, Teamed has achieved 30% month-on-month growth and 100% customer retention with its service-led platform. Teamed recently closed a £2.5M Seed round to further develop its service-led software, accelerate global operations and advance its technology. The funding will also support a recruitment drive for senior roles and the company’s mission to democratise access to career opportunities, keeping it on track for a predicted five-fold growth in 2023.

• OnePulse

  Led · Equity · May 2021

  OnePulse is an online platform that gives global brand and product leaders instant access to verified respondents and delivers results in real time via a mobile app. The service enables rapid insight gathering to narrow research, speed innovation, and focus product and marketing efforts. It has established a large community of mobile app members in over 50 countries and serves clients including Netflix, TikTok, Coca-Cola, M&S and Channel 4. Run by CEO Mike Billingsley and founder/CTO Cameron Gordon, the company plans to use new funding to grow teams in both continents and continue its global expansion. Financially, OnePulse secured a follow-on investment of £420k from Blackfinch Ventures; the firm had previously invested £1.5m in 2021 and £2.1m in March 2022. The company intends to build on its existing international client base as it scales. OnePulse operates a platform that converts market research into real-time conversations between brands and consumers via micro-market surveys of up to three questions. It targets Millennials and Gen Z, delivering instantaneous feedback through a gamified app where consumers earn micro-payments. Brands can ask follow-up questions on the platform to iterate products quickly and maintain product agility. OnePulse counts Coca-Cola, TikTok, Marks & Spencer, Channel 4, Zenith, SC Johnson, and Boohoo among its clients. The company operates across the UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, China, India, Australia, Canada, and Kenya, with plans to expand into Russia, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, and Ireland. It has raised £2 million to fuel global expansion; the round was led by Blackfinch with follow-on investment from Nexus Investments. OnePulse operates a mobile and web platform that lets companies ask groups of highly targeted people up to three questions and receive instant responses. To respondents, OnePulse is positioned as a lifestyle app where users give opinions on news, products, interests and hobbies and earn micro-payments and experience points. The company already has a significant presence in the U.K. and North Africa and serves over 300 international clients, including Aviva, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola and KFC. Led by CEO Atul Choudrie, OnePulse combines consumer-facing incentives with a B2B insight product for brands and agencies. The company plans to use the recent funding to launch in the United States in Summer 2017. No revenue or user-count figures are stated in the article. OnePulse operates a mobile and web platform that lets companies ask people around the UK questions and receive instant consumer feedback, with results available online for analysis and export. The app rewards users with micro-payments for answering “pulses” from brands. The company serves over 300 clients, including Aviva, CGA Strategy, Coca-Cola, Bartle Bogle Hegarty and LBi Digitas. Led by CEO Atul Choudrie, OnePulse offers on-demand insights to brands and businesses of any size or stage. The company plans to use recent funding to grow its user base, release a new version of its client tool, and begin international expansion.

• StaffCircle

  Led · Equity · Apr 2021

  StaffCircle provides an HR software platform for managing employee performance across different locations, led by founder and CEO Mark Seemann. The platform serves 125 organisations across industries including the Food Standards Agency, finnCap, housing associations and NHS bodies, and has international clients in the US and Canada. In the financial year to the end of March the company almost tripled annual revenue to over £800,000 and was on course to exceed £1m in the coming months. The company raised a further £3m in funding to support product enhancements and growth. StaffCircle plans to use the proceeds to enhance its platform, expand its global reach and grow its team by creating 10 new jobs. StaffCircle provides an HR platform designed for remote working that connects employees, improves performance visibility, and reduces time spent on administration. The company has expanded its customer base into the US and the Middle East. Since the first COVID-19 lockdown a year ago it has tripled its revenue and currently employs 20 staff. Founded in 2017 by Mark Seemann and based in Leicester, StaffCircle plans to further enhance its platform and scale ahead of a planned Series A. The recent funding will also support the creation of seven new jobs as the company accelerates growth. StaffCircle is a Leicester, UK–based human resources software platform founded in 2017 and led by CEO Mark Seeman. It provides medium to large organisations with a cloud-based communications, performance and culture platform to help manage employees across many locations. The platform combines communications, performance management and culture tools for distributed workforces. In May 2020 the company raised approximately £670k in funding. Backers included Blackfinch and Mercia Asset Management. StaffCircle said it will use the funds to continue developing platform features and expand its offering to customers. StaffCircle provides a HR software platform that helps clients improve communication and feedback between employees in different locations, giving access to training, tasks and contacts. The software is designed to bridge the 'digital divide' between office-based staff and those working at home or on site by operating across multiple channels that do not rely on internet or email access. The platform targets employees who often miss official communications and aims to increase engagement and information flow. The company plans to add further software features as part of its growth initiatives. Following its recent equity funding, StaffCircle intends to launch a sales and marketing campaign and create five new jobs. The company was founded in March 2017 by Mark Seemann and is based in Leicestershire, UK.

• Candidate.ID

  Led · Equity · Apr 2021

  Candidate.ID is a Glasgow-based developer of recruitment software offering a platform that helps recruiters identify potential candidates through an individual's online brand engagement. Its customer roster includes BUPA, Nielsen, and Specsavers. The company says the new funding will support development of its revenue growth plans and the machine learning behind its solution. CEO Adam Gordon noted that Blackfinch's input and guidance has helped the company grow its customer base and revenue. Candidate.ID received around £1.6m of VC investment across 2019 and 2020 and had an initial £630,000 investment from Blackfinch in April last year. In 2019 the company expanded international operations by opening offices in New York and Singapore. Candidate ID offers a platform that works alongside applicant tracking systems, acting as a core candidate engagement system and replacing recruitment CRM in an employer’s stack. The platform is designed to cut sourcing time considerably and to make recruiters around 50% more productive. It is used by a range of customers including FTSE100 and Fortune 500 firms and international Recruitment Process Outsourcing companies. The company is advancing a machine learning programme to improve its product. Management says the new funding will allow the team to focus on doubling revenue in 2020 while continuing product development. Candidate ID has an advisory board including executives from Barclays, Intuit, IQVIA, Nationwide, Philips and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

• Transreport

  Led · Equity · Mar 2021

  Transreport builds a Passenger Assistance technology and app used to arrange travel assistance for disabled and older people. The company says the app launched in May 2021, has over 100,000 downloads and has facilitated millions of passenger journeys to date; it was nominated for an Apple Design Award in the Inclusivity Category. Transreport is working with public-transport organisations, supports the whole UK rail network, and has a partnership with Japanese rail operator Hankyu Corporation. The newly secured £10 million funding package, led by Puma Private Equity with participation from Pembroke VCT, will be used to expand reach to more users, broader transport modes and industries, and accelerate expansion into aviation. The company plans entry into the Japanese market alongside Hankyu and is pursuing new territories and verticals to reach a wider global audience and create operational efficiencies for transport operators. Management, led by founder and CEO Jay Shen, has raised the company’s profile with policymakers, including a G7 summit appearance in Japan where the CEO met global leaders. Transreport offers an app designed to help rail passengers with disabilities and mobility restrictions alert station and rail staff to booked assistance requests as part of their everyday journey. The service is intended to make travel for people with limited mobility simpler and more routine, handling disruptions like cancellations, delays, and platform changes. Transreport is already in trial with major UK rail operators including West Midlands Railway, Northwestern Railway and Govia Thameslink Railway. The company recently closed a £2.3 million funding round that it says will accelerate expansion and marketing efforts. Management also plans to make new headways into the multi-modal vertical using the fresh capital. Founder Jay Shen commented that investors recognized the goal of making transport more accessible.

No current team members are available.