TalentPuzzle, a brand new online recruitment platform which radically improves the recruitment process for employers and recruitment agencies, has secured its first external investment round from a syndicate which includes the government’s flagship £12.5m Aspire Fund, managed by Capital for Enterprise Ltd (CfEL).
Alongside the Aspire Fund, Talent Puzzle received investment from private fund Venrex Investment Management LLP and two further angel investors, in a funding round that will allow the company to enhance its platform, increase marketing efforts and broaden its database.
Launched in June 2009, TalentPuzzle is revolutionising the UK’s £2.5bn permanent search recruitment market by creating a platform where employers and recruiters can interact more efficiently with each other. TalentPuzzle empowers employers to openly set and advertise to a network of industry leading recruitment agencies the placement fee they are willing to pay for a successful candidate introduction. The resulting transparency will lead employers and recruiters to work better together by improving the quality and suitability of CVs submitted by agencies, thereby reducing costs and improving the time to hire. Founded by entrepreneur Virginia Raemy, TalentPuzzle is providing solutions that are critical during the current downturn and will transform the traditionally highly opaque, unstructured employer / recruitment firm interaction model.
Established in November 2008, the £12.5m Aspire Fund targets support for women-led businesses with an objective to increase the number of successful female entrepreneurs within the UK, ensuring that those with real potential to succeed are not held back through a lack of growth capital. The Fund is able to make investments of between £100k and £1m, providing up to 50% of capital in a funding round alongside other private investors. The Aspire Fund is managed by Capital for Enterprise Ltd on behalf of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).
Commenting on this investment for CfEL, Melanie Perkins, Lead Manager of the Aspire Fund, said:
“We are delighted to be investing in this innovative and promising young company that provides such a critical service to employers and we look forward to helping TalentPuzzle grow from strength to strength.”
Virginia Raemy, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of TalentPuzzle, said:
“I am very happy and feel reinforced by the trust that Aspire and Venrex are showing us through their respective investments. I have big goals for TalentPuzzle and with our investors’ support plan to establish TalentPuzzle as the UK’s leading recruitment marketplace for employers and recruitment agencies. “
Alongside the Aspire Fund CfEL manage the £15m Capital for Enterprise Co-Investment fund (the Co-Fund), which is also able available to invest up to 50% of capital in funding rounds of between £200,000 and £2million, alongside other established fund managers, into SMEs. The Co-Fund has been making new investments over the past 10 months with a focus on fundamentally sound businesses with existing cash flows and genuine growth potential but which are currently unable to access the funding they need.
Investors currently engaged with businesses that might benefit from a co-investment from either the Aspire Fund or the Co-Fund are encouraged to contact CfEL.