The funding will bring increased HR analytics to the company’s large blue chip customers by applying machine learning to their performance and promotion management.
LaunchPad will help companies make fairer hiring and assessment decisions and support recruitment of the best talent for their organisations, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.
“Diversity and inclusion are high on senior management’s agenda, as research from Talent Innovation shows that firms with diverse leaders are more innovative and more likely to improve their market share,” said Will Hamilton, Founder of LaunchPad. “What’s missing is the technology to identify where bias is occurring and to help companies remove that bias.”
Based in London, LaunchPad provides data and video interviewing and screening technology to help recruitment and HR professionals make smarter and more objective hiring decisions. The company works with 200 customers worldwide and processed 300,000 candidate interviews in 2015. LaunchPad also grew its monthly recurring revenue by 170 per cent in 2015.
“The investment from Sussex Place Ventures and Edenred Capital Partners will help us deliver software to clients that directly supports their Diversity and Inclusion agendas,” said Hamilton. “We will be harnessing machine learning to predict the suitability and capability of candidates and employees, enabling organisations to bring objectivity to recruitment and promotion.”
The funding from Sussex Place, an early-stage venture capital investor, is a further vote of confidence in LaunchPad’s position as a major force in HR and recruitment technology.
"LaunchPad’s strong management team, clear purpose and vision, and compelling product made it an attractive investment,” said Richard Gourlay, Managing Partner at Sussex Place Ventures. “We're excited to back LaunchPad’s next steps on its journey into HR analytics.”
Alongside Sussex Place and the French employee benefits company Edenred, LaunchPad now has an enviable and supportive board of significant investors.
“LaunchPad has already proven its potential as a leader in the employment technology space,” said Norbert Furnion at Edenred Capital Partners. “We want to support LaunchPad in achieving its ambitious growth plans, and developing cutting-edge software and apps that help organisations acquire top talent.”
