Queensland job matching startup Getahead raises $1.38m pre-Seed round
Brisbane recruitment tech startup, Getahead, which pitches itself as “Tinder for jobs”, has raised $1.38 million in pre-Seed funding
The round was led by Ezidebit founder Michael Dempsey’s investment fund, Pipeline Capital, supported by Di Bella Coffee founder Phil Di Bella.
Founder Sam McNamara launched Getahead in December last year with the goal of reducing the average time taken to find a new employee from 25 days to just 25 minutes.
He plans to use the initial capital to expand into the Melbourne, Sydney and Perth markets, triple the company’s headcount over the next 12 months and add more capabilities to the app-based platform. The US market is also on the to do list.
Over Summer, it’s hosted applications for more than 1,500 jobseekers around Brisbane, having more than 1,100 sign on in the first 24-hours from launch.
Companies including Wyndham Hotel Group, Acai Brothers and Retail Prodigy Group, which runs stores for Nike, Samsung and Toms in Australia, have also joined Getahead.
McNamara has initially focused on the retail and hospitality markets for matching workers with employers based on their preferences for work-hours, salary expectations, lifestyle, benefits and prior experience.
He explains that like Tinder, the app uses a “swipe right” to match people, so they don’t need to submit a cover letter or resume, while employers get access to a pool of qualified candidates.
Once matched, they can also contact the candidate via direct message or video call, rather than formal interview time, saving both time and resources.
McNamara said the idea for Getahead was born from his own pain points of finding a job during Covid, from fake ads to not knowing the salary when he went to interviews.
“The system has long been broken. But our timing in launching Getahead couldn’t be better. We’re helping employers find talent in what is an incredibly difficult recruitment market, marked by low unemployment,” he said.
“We’re saving both them, and their candidates time and effort, and that’s why our growth has exploded in the past few months.”
“Our goal now is to keep the momentum up, expand to other states and add more functions to Getahead to save jobseekers and employers time.”
Lead investor Michael Dempsey said he believes Getahead has solved the recruitment process for fast hiring industries.
“Pipeline Capital specifically targets founders that have worked in an industry have become frustrated with a problem or process and decided to do something about it. Ezidebit, for example, was founded from my experience as a business owner chasing customers for payments,” he said.
“Likewise Sam through his experience working in recruitment became frustrated with the time and painstaking process of applying for and evaluating an applicant for employment. His solution is Getahead which can connect an employee and employer in seconds.”
Phil Di Bella said the startup solves a problem he’s dealt with for decades.
“Finding the right people for the right job sounds deceptively simple, but in practice is time consuming and expensive given it can cost companies up to $500 per job ad to recruit a new team member,” he said.
“Not only does Getahead speed up what is a painful process for managers, it also saves companies money. All with an eloquent tech-powered solution that taps into how Australians already use their phones.”
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