Glasgow video interviewing start-up with global ambitions sees investment top £1 million

A Glasgow-founded video interviewing start-up is zooming in on global growth after seeing investment in the business top £1 million.

Willo has just secured a fresh £630,000 investment to turbo charge its growth in key markets, including the US.

The cash injection – from high net-worth investors including ex Freeserve chief operating officer Mark Danby, ex-BT talent chief Susan McRoberts, and entrepreneur and Santander global head of digital mobility solutions Jose Ignacio Puente – takes the overall investment in the tech firm to more than £1m.

The latest round has been led by Guernsey-based early-stage tech investment firm 1818 Venture Capital, which also invested in Willo’s previous round.

Euan Cameron, Willo co-founder. Picture: Elaine Livingstone

The total investment of £630,000 has already been rubber stamped by HMRC ­and will be used to develop new products, supercharge marketing and grow the 17-strong Willo team with a raft of new hires.

Immediate growth plans will be focused on the US and Australia, where new team members have already been recruited, as well as continued expansion in the UK.

As it pushes ahead with its global growth plans, Willo is now natively available in French, with more languages – including German, Russian, Dutch and Spanish – on the way.

Marc Cohen, partner at 1818 Venture Capital, will now join the company’s board. He said: "Willo has an incredible team, founders we truly believe in and a rapidly growing service that has found product-market fit.

“We have been incredibly impressed by what the company has achieved so far and are proud to lead this round and support Willo on their exceptional growth journey."

The investment comes amid a strong year to date, during which the Glasgow tech outfit has grown revenues by 251 per cent on the back of “unprecedented” demand across a range of industries. In August alone, 13 businesses signed up to the “freemium” platform every day and 49,860 interviews took place on the platform.

In the eight months to September, someone completed a Willo interview every minute across 138 countries.

The firm remains on target to grow turnover to £44m by the end of 2025, an ambition that will include reaching more than one million video interview completions per month – a key metric for the burgeoning business – and in excess of 32,000 paying customers.

Willo, which is on track to turn over almost £2m this year, can count Chick-fil-A, Samsung, the University of Pennsylvania and airport facilities management firm ABM among its global client list.

Company founder Euan Cameron believes recorded video will be the next iteration of the cover letter – and it could soon replace the CV.

He said: “Traditional hiring methods are broken; businesses today know that they need to look beyond degrees and qualifications to find the best people – a video is a far better way to get to know someone than an application form, cover letter or CV.

“The way businesses hire staff has changed forever, and as we prepare to move beyond the pandemic, we find ourselves in an environment where distance, borders and countries no longer matter. Talent is the only currency that matters.”

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