Glasgow HR tech outfit taps into gig economy explosion with fresh £1.6m investment

A Glasgow-based tech start-up with a focus on the gig economy is scaling up after attracting £1.6 million of funding.

Gigged.AI has secured a £1.6m seed round led by Edinburgh-based Par Equity alongside existing investor Techstart Ventures, Edinburgh-based strategic design firm Nile HQ and a number of “leading entrepreneurs”. The tech outfit deploys advanced algorithms to help businesses source new talent, while enabling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporates to retain existing staff. Clients signed up to the platform include the BBC, the University of Edinburgh and Scottish-founded tech unicorns Skyscanner and FanDuel.

In the UK, gig economy workers have tripled over the last five years, while working patterns have been heavily impacted by the pandemic and the trend for remote and hybrid working. Gigged.AI plans to grow its team over the next 12 months, remotely in addition to its Glasgow and London hubs, and also has a number of partnerships and contract wins in the pipeline this year.

Chief executive and co-founder Rich Wilson said: “The ‘Great Resignation’ has seen millions of people quit their jobs every month, as they leave to seek more flexibility and better opportunity. When you look at Gen Z, almost two out of three now engage in freelance work, and within our own talent community on the platform we are seeing around 70 per cent of people with second jobs, or ‘side hustles’ as they’re commonly known. The companies in our client base are experiencing these trends first-hand and now have much better visibility for what skills they have in-house, and where they need to add talent, or upskill it.”

Paul Atkinson, a partner with Par Equity who is also a recruitment sector veteran who has overseen multiple exits in the sector, added: “HR tech is a fast-growing segment, and what Rich and the team have built in terms of the technology to support sourcing, onboarding and helping to retain staff, in such a short amount of time is a remarkable achievement. We look forward to supporting the company on its journey to becoming one of the leading players in the sector.”